PRINCIPLES ef COOKER 



AMERICAN SCHOOLS/HOME ECO! 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

U.S. 




TEXTBOOK EDITION 




Copyright N°_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Principles of Cookery 



ANNA BARROWS 



TEACHER OF COOKERY, TEACHERS' COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

DIRECTOR CHAUTAUQUA SCHOOL OF COOKERY 

AUTHOR HOME SCIENCE COOK BOOK, FORMERY 

EDITOR AMERICAN KITCHEN MAGAZINE 




CHICAGO 

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 

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COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY 

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOUSEHOLD EO .«< MIC5 

COPYRIGHT, 1906, 1910, BY 

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION, 

Entered at Stationers Hall, London 
All Rights Reserved 



©C!.A2782'.2 



CONTENTS 



Letter to Students 

Fire ...... 

Water ...... 

Methods of Cooking in Water 

Ice ....... 

Preparation and Preserving of Foods 
Choice of Food .... 

Milk and Its Products 

Butter ...... 

Cheese ...... 

Eggs ...... 

Meat ...... 

Fish 

Poultry ..... 

Vegetables 

Grains 

Bread and Other Doughs 

Pastry and Cake .... 

Cooking of Doughs. 

Form and Flavor .... 

Flavor . . . 

Food for the Day .... 

Bibliography ..... 

Comparative Value of Fuels 
Alcohol ...... 

Kerosene ..... 

Fireless Cookers .... 

Co-operative Cooking 
Kitchen Furnishings 
The Housekeeper's Library 
Card Catalog of Foods . 





1 
. 16 




20 




. 2S 




3 2 




• 39 




42 




. 48 




53 


. 


• 55 




67 




• 77 




79 




• S3 




94 




• 99 




114 




. I IQ 




122 




• 13° 




133 




. I40 




147 




• I50 




151 




• LS2 




158 




• 159 




162 


. 


• 165 



iv CONTENTS 

Cookery a Fine Art ..... 167 

Cake Making ........ 169 

Menu Making .' . . . . . 170 

Use of Fats . . . . . . . . 180 

Table Service . . . . . .181 

Menus for Special Occasions ..... 182 

Directions for Waitresses at the Lake Placid 

Club, by Mrs. Melvil Dewey .... 1S3 

Program for Supplemental Study . . . 189 

Index ........ 197 



AMERICAN SCHOOL OP HOME ECONOMICS 
CHICAGO 

"January 1, 1907. 
My dear Madam: 

Cookery is so old a story to 
many women that they find little interest in it. 
Others, though they enjoy cooking and are con- 
stantly devising new ways of preparing food and 
seeking new recipes from their friends, never 
learn anything of the chemical composition of 
foods or the reasons for the processes they carry 
on daily. 

Comparatively few have yet studied cookery 
as they study other subjects, getting at its 
fundamental principles and grouping its varied 
formulas in a few general divisions. 

In these lessons the attempt has been made 
to reduce cookery to its lowest terms. It would 
be impossible to tell the whole story of the art 
of cookery in so few pages, but by concentrating 
we are better able to view the subject as a 
whole. The aim has been to lay a foundation with 
which each student may become familiar easily 
and upon which she may build a system of cookery 
in accord with modern scientific investigation 
and yet adapted to her own conditions. 

For those who have had little or no experience 
in cooking, the order in which the tonics are 
taken up will be suggestive and helpful— that is, 
the application of heat to foods, the use of 
water in cooking, cooking of simple foods as 
grams, vegetables, and meats, and last, the mix- 
ing and cooking of doughs and the making of the 
more complicated dishes. If possible, 111 the 
experiments should be performed, especially when 



they are called for in the test questions. Keep-, 
ing a note book will be found a great help in fix- 
ing experiences in mind and in preventing a repe- 
tition of mistakes. 

Most of our present system of cookery has 
been derived from the experiments of the genera- 
tions of housekeepers behind us, but there is no 
reason why the housekeeper or cook of to-day 
should cling to the traditions of the past if she 
can devise a better way. It is hoped that these 
lessons may induce each student to observe, to 
adapt, to experiment. New life is put into the 
simplest routine of daily work if we are constant- 
ly watching processes and studying short cuts to 
better results. 

Very sincerely yours, 



j?*^^ J^i 



Instructor 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 



A NATURAL starting point in the art of cookery 
is the fire, since cookery without heat is an im- 
possibility. Human beings everywhere use fire to pre- 
pare their foods and by such applications of heat man 
first showed his superiority to the beasts. 

FIRE 

Among the ancients fire was regarded as a gift from 
the gods, to be protected in every way, and all civiliza- 
tion, forms of religion, civil ordinances, and family life 
have been traced to the care primitive man bestowed 
upon his fire. Among the early tribes, the chieftain 
was often the only one to have a fire in his home. 
The hearthstone thus became the center of the home 
life, the abode of the household gods, and even at the 
present time it is impossible for some persons to sep- 
arate the spirit of the home from the kitchen fire. 

In different sections of the country may still be 
seen all the types of fire and stove that have been Anciont 

J r Stoves 

developed through centuries, and every housekeeper 
should be familiar with the principles underlying the 
care of each. Among these are the camp fire where 
food is broiled over coals or buried in hot ashes, the 
charcoal brazier of the fruit vender, essentially the 
same as the portable stoves found in Pompeii, the open 
fireplace, the brick oven, the Franklin stove, (an in- 



2 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

vention of Benjamin Franklin), cookstoves adapted to 
wood, to hard and soft coal, to kerosene, to gas, and 
the electrical appliances which as* yet are little more 
than toys for the rich. 

A century and more ago chimneys and fireplaces 
were often troublesome by smoking 
and Count Rumford and Benjamin 
Franklin each in different ways 
brought their inventive faculties to the 
solution of this serious problem of 
daily life. When the fireplace was the 
dependence of the home for warmth 
and cooking, the charred, half-burned 
brands of wood were carefully covered 
with ashes at night to start the fire the 

A Roman Stove a 

or Brazier. nex j- m0 rning. If the wind had blown 

off the ashes and the coals were gone out, it was easier 
to borrow more coals from a neighbor than to use the 
flint to produce a spark. All this was changed when 
matches were invented. 

It was but a step for primitive man from baking in 
Ovens j-jQj. ashes or m a covered kettle set on the coals to a 
simple form of oven. Often one oven served a com- 
munity. Brick ovens were built at one side of the 
chimney. Sometimes the heat was turned through a 
flue to heat these ovens, sometimes a fire was built 
directly in the oven, and when it was burned down the 
oven was swept out and the food put in to be cooked 



First 




FlkE. 3 

by the heated bricks. The later brick ovens, still used 
in some old houses, often had space underneath for 
a separate fire. 




An Oven. Showing Direction of the Hot Gases. 

For the open fire, wood is the most satisfactory fuel 
but it is not desirable for continuous use in cooking or 
heating'. Wood is sold by measure, which is an in- 
accurate method at best. The drier the wood the better 
it burns, and a hard wood which produces coals is 
most useful. 

When wood is heated and the volatile portions ex- 
pelled, charcoal is produced. This is usually sold by 
measure. Its weight is about one-fifth that of the wood 
from which it is made. It is a primitive form of fuel 
and generally used in warm countries. A succession 
of small fires which can be quickly lighted and as 



Wood 
as Fuel 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



quickly extinguished are more suitable to such condi- 
tions than the one large stove or range. 

The small stoves used today by the Latin races and 
their colonies do not differ materially from those of 
the early Romans, 
charcoal The charcoal broiler is used by many hotels because 

of the flavor it appears to develop in meats. 

Peat is an important fuel in some sections of the 
world. It must be thoroughly drained or dried, and 
at best contains a large percentage of ash. 

Both anthracite and bituminous coal have been in 
common use for less than a hundred years. 
Hard coal A dense solid, like hard coal, kindles slowly but 

requires far less care to maintain a fire than wood. 
Coal is a better fuel for winter than summer. If the 
lumps of coal are too large they will not kindle readily ; 
if too small, they choke the flame. The large nut and 
egg grades are best suited to cooking purposes. The 
draft and size of the fire box determine the size- and 
grade to be used for good results. The free burning 
"Franklin" coal should be used with poor draft, while 
with a good draft and large fire box all grades and the 
larger sizes may be used. A dark brilliant coal will 
have fewest clinkers. The intense heat resulting from 
open drafts fuses in large masses the foreign matter 
which is mixed with the carbon. By burning oyster 
shells in such cases, new compounds are formed which 
prevent the clinkers, but the clinkers seldom form with 
a moderate supply of air. 



Soft Coal 



and 
Ranges 



FIRE. 5 

.Soft coal needs very different treatment from hard. 
Little draft underneath is required, but some draft is 
necessary over the top to burn the gases given off, and 
the funnel draft must be open to allow the smoke to 
escape. If the coal has "coked" over on top it must 
be broken up when good fire is required. If the fire 
is to be kept, it is allowed to coke over. 

Briquettes are made from coal dust and other sub- 
stances and are used extensively in places where coal 
is high priced. 

The wood and coal stoves and ranges are today the st oves 
most common means of cooking foods. Housekeepers 
often become familiar with one stove and one kind of 
fuel and are unsuccessful with another because they 
are unwilling to study the laws of nature, or lack the 
patience to experiment with a new adaptation of them. 

Much besides personal preference must be con- 
sidered in the proper valuation of fuels ; not only the 
percentage of carbon, moisture, and volatile matter in 
each, but the necessary waste, the by-products, and 
the time required for caring for each and keeping the 
surroundings clean. 

The best stoves and ranges are those plain in finish 
and simple in construction, with parts well fitted to- 
gether so that they can be taken apart if necessary 
and easily cleaned. 

A portable range is one that may be moved if neces- 
sary, while the "set" range is built into the chimney. 

The fire box is lined on the sides with a kind of brick 



Fire-Bo* 



6 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

above which the fire should never come. The revolv- 
ing grate is the most common in recent styles of stoves. 
There is a grate underneath, and below is a place for 
ashes or a pan which may be taken out to empty. The 
oven is surrounded by spaces through which hot gases 
circulate. 

The housekeeper should investigate her stove thor- 
oughly when the fire is out, take off all covers, open 
doors, remove the "clean out" plate for the space, under 
the oven ; then see Low the dampers work and explore 
all passages with a lighted match or candle if need be. 
The Draft The draft given by the chimney depends upon the 
difference in temperature between the air of the room 
and the gases of combustion. The hot gases are more 
expanded and therefore lighter and tend to rise. The 
hotter the fire the greater the draft will be. 

The supply of air is as essential as fuel for a good 
fire ; combustion depends upon both. Smoke and an 
accumulation of soot are indications of incomplete 
combustion. 

Several drafts and dampers are common to all wood 
and coal stoves and ranges. They should be open to 
start the fire, but closed to keep it. The slide under the 
fire box supplies the fresh air necessary for perfect 
combustion. A check in the pipe or at the back of 
the stove under the pipe, or in both places, is usually 
known as the chimney damper. A slide in the stove 
pipe or connected with the chimney damper admits 
cold air into the stove pipe when opened and thus les- 
sens the draft. 



FIRE. 



The oven damper turns the heated air away from oven 
the pipe so that it goes over the top, down the side, am P er 
under the bottom, and up the back flue in most stoves 
and heats the oven before it makes its escape. These 
differ slightly in different ranges but the purpose of 
each is the same. Experiment with your own stove 
until you can control it. 

Many ranges have a slide or door above the fire 
box which may be used for broiling. Hoods are some- 
times placed over large ranges to gather odors and 
excessive heat and convey them to the chimney. 

Whether the fuel be coal or wood, the starting- of a „. - ... 

& Kindling 

fire and its care afterwards are much the same pro- the Fire 
cess. First remove ashes, brushing off the top of the 
oven under the covers. When the fire box is clear, 
put in crumpled paper, bits of wood, and then larger 
wood and a sprinkle of fine coal. See that all drafts 
are open. Replace the covers and then blacken the 
stove, if necessary, but polish after the fire is started. 
Light the paper and as the wood settles down, add coal, 
little by little, till it is even with the lining of the fire 
box. When the blue flame of coal disappears, close 
the oven damper, and a little later shut the slide under 
the fire box and the chimney damper. Open the 
damper when more coal is added. When coal is red 
it is nearly burned out. 

To keep a fire several hours shake out the ashes, 

1 _ To Keep 

fill with coal, close the dampers, and partially open the Fir8 
the slide above the fire. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Gas 

Burners 



For continual use it is better to add a little fuel at 
a time, but not in the midst of baking anything. With 
wood and soft coal the chimney damper cannot' be 
closed as much as with hard coal, because there is more 
soot and smoke which must be allowed to escape. 
Gas is an invisible fuel obtained from several sources. 
Pure coal gas is more satisfac- 
tory than natural gas, or than the 
so-called "water gas." The es- 
cape of the latter is less easily de- 
tected and it is much more poi- 
sonous, hence there is more dan- 
ger in using it. 

For institutions at a distance 
from large towns a private sup- 
ply of gas which is fairly satis- 
^^.^*===> factory is made from gasoline, 

and acetylene gas is now 
often made even for the single 

Bunsen Burner. llOUSC 

For fuel purposes, the burners are so constructed as 
to admit sufficient air with the gas for complete com- 
bustion. A bluish flame is produced, which is much 
hotter than the yellow blaze used for light. 

It is possible to admit too much air, which causes a 
loss of heat. If the air supply is adjustable, close the 
opening for the air until a yellow flame is produced, 
and then open it until the flame just comes blue again. 

If a burner in a gas stove "burns back" and shows a 




FTRE. 



yellowish flame, leaving a deposit of soot on the bottom 
of kettles, turn it out and light it again, being careful 
that the gas does not ignite back in the pipe before 
it mixes with the air. 

Gas stoves should be connected with the main sup- 
ply by a pipe large enough to insure sufficient supply of 



Gas 
Stoves 




Gas Stove with Oven. Broiler, and Hot Wa- 
ter Heater Attachment. 

fuel under all conditions. The amount used can then 
be regulated by the cook for each burner. Care must 
be taken to keep the burners and all parts of the stove 
perfectly clean. 

The gas stove is especially adapted to the conditions 
of the present age ; it is far less care than either wood 
or coal ranges, and at ordinary rates for gas, less ex- 
pensive when properly operated. Even at high prices 



Advantages 
of Gas 
Stoves 



10 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Gas 

Meter 



for gas it is a cheap fuel if human energy and time 
are considered. The application of a match makes the 
full power of the stove available at once and as soon as 
work is done, the flame may be shut off. Any desired 
degree of heat may be obtained at short notice with 
no waste of fuel and no debris to be cared for. The 
stoves occupy small space and each part may be used 
independently. 





100 THOUSAND 10 THOUSAND 




(b) 

Dial of a Gas Meter, (a) At the Beginning of a Month, 
(b) After Registering the Amount of Gas Used for the Month. 

The housekeeper should learn to read a gas meter. 
Each space on the right hand circle passed by the hand 
indicates the consumption of ioo cubic feet of gas, on 
the middle circle 1,000 feet, and on the one on the left 
hand 10,000 feet. Read from left to right, taking the 
figure just passed by each hand and add two ciphers 
for the hundreds. A previous reading deducted from 
the present one shows the amount of gas consumed in 
a given time. 

Example. In the illustration, the hand on dial A has 
just passed the figure 7, indicating 700 cubic feet ; on 
dial B the hand has passed figure 8 (note that this 



FIRE. 



hand moves in the opposite direction to the first), and 
on dial C the hand has last passed the figure 4. The 
reading is then, 700-4-8,000-)- 40,000=48,700 cubic feet. 
I f in a month the hands are 
in the position indicated in the 
second figure, the reading is 
64,900 cubic feet. The dif- 
ference between the two read- 
ings is 64,900 — 48,700=16,- 
200 cubic feet. Sixteen thou- 
sand two hundred cubic feet 
is the amount consumed for 
the month. 

The small dial at the top of 
the illustration indicates cubic 
feet and is used only for test- 
ing the system for leakage. 

Kerosene and gasoline are 
useful fuels for summer and 
emergency use. These are 
sold by the gallon and only 
the best qualities should be 

used. The blue flame kerosene probably are the best 
of this class of stoves. The small lamp stoves also 
have merit. They are similar in construction to read- 
ding lamps and should receive equal care. Two small 
stoves often are more useful than one large one, be- 
cause more readily moved where needed. It is essen- 
tial that such stoves should stand out of a draft. 




Steam Cooker, Circular 
Form. 



Kerosene 

and 

Gasoline 



12 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Steam 
Cooker 



Chafing 
Dish 



i . . • ' -. ■ ' ■ . ' .' • ' i Q t - .in 

. . , .-.-., ' ^«-| T | . 1 1 1 ■ , • . • l,.- 



A steam cooker is an invaluable adjunct to the small 
stoves whether gas or kerosene is burned. Several 
articles may thus be cooked over one burner and both 
time and fuel are saved. 

The Aladdin oven is an arrangement for saving 
heat. It may be used with an 
ordinary large lamp or with gas. 
The iron oven is placed inside a 
jacket of non-conducting sub- 
stance, hence little heat is lost. 
It is especially useful for slow 
cooking. 

The Norwegian cooking box 
is another plan for saving heat. 
A kettle of food is raised to the 
boiling point and then packed in 
a box lined with non-conducting 
materials. 

The modern chafing dish is 
but slightly different in effect from the primitive char- 
coal stove or brazier. The use of alcohol for fuel 
makes it simple and clean. Wood alcohol — a by- 
product from distillation of wood — is often used for 
fuel, but its disagreeable odor makes it less desirable. 
Anything that may be cooked over any other stove 
in a frypan, saucepan, or double boiler may be pre- 
pared in the chafing dish. 




Aladdin Oven Heated 
by Lamp. 



•FIRE. 



13 



Heat brings out the flavors in food and develops 
new ones and makes soluble, substances which the 
human stomach could not otherwise digest. In most 
cases moderate heat long continued produces better 
results than intense heat applied for a short period. 



Effects 
of Cooking 




A MODIFIED NORWEGIAN COOKING BOX. 



Graniteware Palls with tight covers are packed with asbestos and covered with a pad, the 
lid of the box is then closed and the whole wrapped in an old blanket. 

The degree of heat best adapted to make food digesti- 
ible is not always that which produces the most ac- 
ceptable flavor, hence cooking must be more or less of 
a compromise. As yet we know little about the de- 
gree of heat best suited to the perfect cooking of each 
food and the temperature at which it should be served. 
Nothing will cook until it is warmed, and warming 
and drying are usually the first steps in the cooking 
process. 



14 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Transmis- 
sion of Heat 



Boiling 



Roasting 



The transmission of heat from a fire to our foods 
may be by conduction, as when heat travels along a bar 
of metal, by convection, when heat is transferred by 
the motion of heated liquid or gas, and by radiation 
through the air. The effect of heat on the food is fur- 
ther modified by the way the metal or other substance 
containing the food is affected by heat. 

The use of asbestos in the form of mats and linings 
for ovens and jackets for kettles to modify the heat 
transferred to food is likely to increase in the future. 

Broiling probably was the first attempt at cooking 
since it required little beside the fire and the heat. 
Roasting is a similar process applied to larger sections 
of meat and therefore requiring a longer time. The 
relationship of roasting and broiling is most apparent 
with a gas range for there is no line of separation be- 
tween the cooking of thick steaks and thin roasts. 
Much so-called roasting is really baking. 

In broiling and roasting, tender portions of fish, flesh 
or fowls are exposed to intense heat at first to sear the 
outside and close the open tubes or pores which con- 
tain the juices. The fire should be free from smoke 
and may be charcoal or half-burned wood or coal or 
gas. After the surface is browned the section of meat 
should be drawn away from the intense heat and kept 
at a more moderate temperature until cooked thor- 
oughly. More depends upon the shape of the article 
to be broiled or roasted than upon the weight. 

When a thick mass is to be cooked in this fashion it 



FIRE. 15 

becomes necessary to modify the heat on the outside and Basting 
to aid in driving it in by the process known as basting ; 
that is, dipping up the hot fat which has dripped into 
a pan beneath the meat and hence is known as drip- 
ping, and pouring it over the outside of the mass. The 
glossy brown secured by basting may have suggested 
to some early cook the advantage of deep frying. 




Chafiug-Dish — the Modern Brazier. 

The difference between broiling over coals and in a 
hot pan is but slight and dry frying or sautering is a 
similar process. Toasting is a similar application of 
heat to foods already cooked once. 

The earliest forms of baking were in the hot dishes 
and then in covered kettles set in coals or hung over 
the fire. Our ovens are an outgrowth from those 
primitive methods, and now much so-called roasting 
is really baking. 

A point to study in this connection is the fact that 
food is fuel for the human body. The amount anr} 



16 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

quality of fuel is varied according to the work to be 
done, so should the food be chosen according to 
the work of the individual and the climate or season 
of the year. 

WATER 

Water is not always considered to be strictly a food 
in itself, but by its aid many foods and flavors are put 
in forms more acceptable to the palate and more readily 
absorbed by the body than they could be in any other 
way. 
importance Immense quantities of water are necessary for 

in Cooking the preparation of food and the cleansing of dishes 
in addition to what is needed for laundry and bathing 
purposes. Cities make provision from some source 
safe from contamination for the water needed by their 
inhabitants. In small communities the individual fam- 
ily must each be responsible for its water supply. This 
is not the place to discuss the medical aspect of the 
water question, but all agree that water should be 
above the suspicion of danger of transmitting disease. 
Moreover, for household purposes water should be 
clean and soft, since hard water containing mineral 
salts hinders processes of cooking and cleaning. 

A limited water supply or inconvenient arrangements 
for its use and disposal afterward, tend to reduce the 
consumption to such an extent as to interfere with the 
proper cooking and service of food, if not below the 
actual standards for health, 



WATER. 17 

Nearly three-fourths of the human body is water and 
a similar proportion will hold in most foods served at 
our tables. The total amount of water taken by a 
human being daily averages two or three quarts, or 
from four to six pounds. The portion of this which 
is taken as a beverage depends upon the solidity of the 
food. 

The benefit gained from mineral waters often is quite 
as much due to an increased consumption of water as 
to the mineral constituents they contain. The tendency 
of civilized man in feeding himself is toward too con- 
centrated foods, too little water as a beverage and too 
little watery food. Water not only brings solids into 
the stomach in an acceptable form, but it is essential 
in building new tissues and removing wastes. The in- 
side of the body, as well as the outside, sometimes re- 
quires washing. 

The temperature at which water is taken into the 
stomach is an important point. A glass of cool water 
sipped slowly may have as stimulating an effect as one 
of wine. Often more ice than water is found in the 
glasses on American tables, and the ice water is taken 
hurriedly and interferes with digestion. 

Hot water taken slowly will often revive tired peo- 
ple as effectually as tea or coffee. The merit of soup 
as a first course at dinner probably is due to the fact 
that it contains ninety to ninety-five per cent hot water 
and that the solids are largely in solution and absorb- 
able, 



Winers 
Water 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Flavor 
of Water 



If clear hot water is an unpalatable beverage, salt 
or lemon juice may be added to give a distinct flavor. 

There is a marked difference in flavor between water 
freshly boiled and that which has been kept hot for a 
long time. The latter has lost the gases which give 
life to fresh water. For any purpose in cooking stale 
water will injure the flavor of foods whether it be 
taken from a hot water faucet or from a teakettle where 
it has stood for hours. 

Other ill flavors come into our foods because of im- 
perfect utensils, badly washed. A rough surface or 
seam will retain something from previous cooking to 
add to the next substance cooked therein, or greasy 
dishwater or soap may be left in sufficient quantity to 
give an appreciable change of flavor. 

Another important use of water essential in good 
cooking is for the cleaning of utensils. 

Dishwashing is not a popular occupation probably 
because repairing or setting to rights is never quite as 
interesting as the construction of something definite. 
Insufficient appliances and inconvenient conditions for 
the work are other causes for its unpopularity. 

With a convenient sink of the right height, ample 
table room for soiled and clean dishes, abundance of 
towels and hot water, dishwashing loses its terrors. 

A knowledge of the composition of each food and the 
way it is affected by different degrees of heat is as de- 
sirable in dishwashing as in cooking. For example, 
where gelatine has dried on a strainer it should be 



Soaking 



WATER. 19 

softened in cold water, but that treatment would not be 
helpful if the strainer had been used for fry fat, while 
an egg' beater plunged in boiling" water would be all the 
harder to wash because the egg would be cooked. 
Time is saved by careful sorting and scraping of dishes 
before washing. Detergents are helpful but less im- 
portant than abundance of water. 

Strong soda water boiled in a utensil will remove 
food that has burned on. Soaking is as helpful in Dishes 
dishwashing as in the laundry and dishes that cannot 
be washed as soon as used should be covered with 
water. After washing, any dishes are improved by 
rinsing in scalding water. 

The usual plan is to wash dishes in this order, glass, 
silver, crockery, cooking pans, or kettles. Often it is 
more desirable to get the large pieces out of the way 
first. 

It is half a century since the first dishwashing ma- 
chine was invented and though they are in general use 
for hotels, hand work seems better adapted to most 
households. 

To illustrate the effect of the range of temperature 
from the block of ice at 32 ° F to the steaming kettle at 
212 F let us follow the process of making a simple 
gelatine jelly. The gelatine has been extracted for us 
in factories from bones of animals and needs no cook- 
ing, but must be dissolved and combined with liquid 
and flavoring. It is first softened in cold water, the 
time required varying according to the size of the parti- 



20 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

cles of gelatine. Then it must be dissolved with boil- 
ing liquid. Use only as much boiling liquid as is neces- 
Geiatine S ary to dissolve the gelatine. The sugar, if that is to 
be used, added next, because it will dissolve more 
rapidly in a warm medium, and then is put in the fruit 
juice or whatever is to flavor the jelly. 

The compound is to be strained and cooled. The 
larger the mass the slower the cooling. 

Experiment. To illustrate this put half the jelly in 
one mould and the other half in several cups. The cup 
will be firm before the large mould at any tempera- 
ture. 

To illustrate another point put one cup in a pan of 
snow or cracked ice mixed with coarse salt. When 
some of the jelly is half thickened combine with it 
whipped' cream or white of egg. 

If possible take temperature of each with a ther- 
mometer. The key to all gelatine desserts, is to have 
proper proportions of gelatine and liquid and to have 
the right temperature for the different stages. The 
proportions are given by each manufacturer on the 
package. 

METHODS OF COOKING IN WATER. 

Water is as essential as fire in all processes of cook- 
ery. No food can be Cooked without water and un- 
less it naturally contains a large proportion of the 
fluid, more must be added during the cooking process, 
poiiing Cooking food in water indicates further progress in 



WATER. 21 

this art than either broiling or roasting. It implies 
the invention of a kettle to contain the water, though 
the earliest cooking of this sort may have been done by 
dropping heated stones into a hollow one containing 
the water and meat or into a water tight basket. Homer 
and other ancient writers have nothing to say about 
boiled meats, though they mention those which were 
broiled or roasted. 

Boiling, stewing, and steaming are slight variations 
of the same process. Under ordinary conditions, with- 
out pressure, no food thus cooked can be raised to a 
higher temperature than 21 2° F at sea level, and at 
high altitudes few foods can be cooked in this way, 
since water boils at a lower temperature. 

Experiment. Much may be learned by heating a 
given measure of water and watching it until it reaches 
the boiling point. 

Tiny bubbles hardly larger than the point of a pin 
soon form and rise to the top, but this is not boiling. 
The same thing may happen in a glass of water stand- 
ing for an hour on the table. How will you explain 
this ? 

When the water is actually boiling large bubbles 
rise rapidly and break on the surface. Keep up this 
process until nothing appears to be left in the pan. 
Where has the water gone? Has anything been left 
behind ? There will usually be a trace of coloring mat- 
ter to indicate that solids do not evaporate. 

This point may be made more apparent by putting a 



2'2 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Evaporation 



Choice of 

Utensils 



tablespoonful of salt in the water that is to be evapo- 
rated. 

What is left behind in a teakettle which is never 
cleaned inside though the water is allowed to boil day 
after day ? 

Experiment. Other simple experiments may be made 
with two dishes of uniform size containing the same 
amount of water exposed to the same heat, one covered, 
the other uncovered. Which reaches the boiling point 
first? From which does the water first evaporate? 

The evaporation of water is an important factor in 
cooking. The rate of evaporation is proportionate to 
the surface exposed to the air and not to the amount 
of water in the kettle. 

Thus the same quantity of syrup or sauce made in a 
shallow pan will naturally become thicker than when 
cooked for the same time in a deep pan having only 
one-fourth the surface. 

The art of the cook is displayed by the proper choice 
of utensils, or, if utensils are limited, by varying the 
time of the process or by the addition of more water 
for different purposes. Where long cooking is neces- 
sary choose deep utensils, reserving the shallow ones 
for the occasions when haste is essential. 

The use of a cover serves several purposes ; it pro- 
tects the food in the kettle from foreign matter from 
outside, it aids in retaining the heat, and prevents the 
loss of water to some extent, as much of the steani 
condenses and runs backs 



COOKING IN WATER. 



23 



Even without a thermometer it is evident that water 
cannot be made as hot as fat, for a potato, a bit of meat, 
or a lump of dough might be cooked in water indefinite- 
ly without assuming the brown color which would 
come to any one of these articles in hot fat. 

By observation also, we might discover that, however 
rapidly the water in a kettle boils, potatoes or other 
foods do not cook more quickly. In the same way we 
should find that absolute boiling or bubbling of the 
water was not necessary in order to cook some foods. 

Through such observation and experience certain 
common laws of cooking have been established and 
these have been verified and explained by the experi- 
ments of modern scientists. The temperature of the 
water should be adapted to the type of food material 
to be cooked in it. Vegetables containing woody fibre 
to be softened require the boiling-point, while meats 
and eggs, of different composition, will cook more per- 
fectly at a lower temperature. To extract juices and 
flavors of meats and vegetables to the fullest degree 
divide the substance finely to expose as much surface as 
possible to the action of the water and let that be cold. 
Soak first, then heat the whole slowly and hold below 
the boiling point till the end is gained. 

When water is used only for the purpose of convey- 
ing heat let it be boiling hot when the food is put into 
it. Even then some of the solids in the food will be dis- 
solved in the water and lost unless it be used. In some 
cases, as in strong flavored vegetables, this may be a 



Temperature 
in Cooking- 



Cooking 
with Water 



24 PRINCIPLES OP COOKERY. 

desirable loss. Mediums like hot fat, a thick syrup, or 
a gravy in which water is thickened with flour, by 
their density prevent loss of shape and flavor in the 
articles cooked in them. Rapid boiling in water tends 
to disintegrate foods. Meats are cooked to rags, 
potatoes become a soggy paste, and no intensity of heat 
is gained. 




A Double-Boiler — an Invention of Count 
Rumford. 



stewing Stewing implies moist heat, a sort of sweating 

process. Boiling requires much water, at its highest 
temperature ; stewing is done with little water at a heat 
sufficient to soften the substance, but considerably be- 
low the boiling point. Hence boiling is more applica- 
ble to vegetables and stewing to animal foods. 

Braising Braising and fricasseeing and pot roasting are com- 

binations of broiling or frying and stewing. Sections 
of meat are first browned to secure a good flavor and 
then stewed until tender in broth or gravy. 



The 



COOKING IN WATER. 25 

Water is a restless substance and is constantly escap- 
ing from the surface of our foods while they are being 
cooked. Keep the water in the right place, is a watch- 
word against many of the difficulties that arise in 
cookery. 

When a sauce or soup is too thick water may be 
added. On the other hand, when such foods are too 
watery the surplus often may be evaporated by cook- 
ing rapidly, uncovered, for a short time. 

Besides kettles of various shapes, the double boiler 
and the steam cooker are important utensils dependent Boiler* 
for use upon water. The double boiler we owe to the 
inventive genius of Count Rumford. Here is one ket- 
tle set in another containing water, and so long as 
there is water between a food and the fire no browning 
can take place in the food. This utensil is especially 
associated with compounds of milk and with the cook- 
ing of cereals. Though the food in the upper part 
does not quite reach the boiling point, this disadvantage 
is more than balanced by the long time which may be 
allowed for cooking with no danger of burning. 

The steam cooker is found in many patterns, all on 
the same general plan. It differs from the double 
boiler in having several parts above the kettle contain- 
ing the water, each with perforated bottom, so that 
the steam and vapor have direct access to the food. 

The"bain marie" is a French device to serve the same 
end. One large kettle of water contains a number of 



2t> 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Making 
Tea 



Coffee 




Coffee Pot for 
Drip Coffee. 



deep sauce pans. This is especially useful for food 
already cooked which is to be 
kept hot for intermittent serving 
in restaurants. 

The prevalent idea that all 
food must be served the moment 
it is cooked is due in many 
cases to imperfect methods for 
keeping it warm. 

For tea and coffee a moder- 
ately soft water is generally con- 
sidered best. 

The different kinds of tea re- 
ceive their name from the local- 
ity where they grow and from 
the size of the leaf, the younger leaves furnishing the 
choicer varieties. (See the illustration and descrip- 
tion given on page 139 of Food and Dietetics .) 

To make tea, use an earthen pot, fresh boiling water, 
and from one-half to one teaspoonful of tea for each 
half pint of water. Leave covered in a warm place to 
steep for three to five minutes and serve. For cold 
tea drain from the grounds at once. 

Names mean little in brands of coffee further than 
to indicate the original home of a special variety of the 
plant. The berry improves in quality for several years 
but loses flavor after roasting and more after grinding. 
One pound of good coffee measures about one quart 
and will make at least thirty full cups of strong coffee. 
Thus one pound should supply one person for a month 



COOKING IN WATER. 



27 



or four persons for a week. It is better to buy coffee 
in small lots often, unless it is ground as used. 
Coffee may be steeped like tea or boiled. All things 




STEAM COOKER WITH DOORS. 

considered, the drip coffee pots are most satisfactory 
and the beverage thus made is more economical and 
uniform and probably less injurious than when it is 
boiled. 



28 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

ICE 

Ice is becoming more and more essential to civilized 
man, not only for summer use but for the year around. 
The future promises many improvements along this 
line, in more rigid inspection of the sources of the 
natural ice supply, in improved facilities for the manu- 
facture of artificial ice, perhaps even in the individual 
home, by the transmission of cold brine as gas and 
water are now supplied from house to house from cen- 
tral plants, making it possible to dispense with the 
iceman's daily round. Patents have been issued for 
methods of cooling houses in summer similar to those 
used in cold storage plants. Food is now sent long dis- 
tances in refrigerator cars and the whole subject of 
refrigeration has received much study. It has been 
found that different foods require various degrees of 
temperature. 
Cold The preservation of food by cold storage is of great 

Storage b ene fi t t0 arm i e s and navies, but is not an unmixed 
blessing to the housekeeper for it has upset the seasons 
of foods, and when we can obtain a food at any time 
of the year it loses the charm it possessed when the 
season was a short one. Moreover, though food in 
cold storage does not spoil, it parts with something and 
undergoes certain changes which are not fully ex- 
plained as yet. The housekeeper is usually safer in the 
use of canned foods than of those subjected to a long 
period of cold storage. 



ICE. 



29 



The household refrigerator is frequently expected to , 
do impossibilities in caring for foods. It is a great 
labor saver when properly used and may be depended 
upon the year around and not merely in summer. 

It should be placed in a cool, light, airy place, con- 
venient to kitchen and dining room unless a second 



The 
Refrigerator 




A Refrigerator showing Direction of Air Currents. 

refrigerator be placed there. If possible place it near 
the door so that the ice man need not track all over 
the kitchen floor. The cellar is no place for a re- 
frigerator. A good cellar is a safe place for most 
foods, and a poor one will injure the refrigerator. 

In many households the cost of ice is more than 
saved by the preservation of food that would other- 
wise be lost. The average family will use from one to 
two dollars' worth of ice a month at city prices. 

In modern houses the water pipe from the ice com- 



Refrigerator 



30 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

partment of the refrigerator is often connected with 
the sewer pipe. This should never be direct. Let the 
pipe drip into a spout. 

A refrigerator should have several compartments, 
that foods like milk and butter may be kept apart 
from others. The coolest, place is usually under 
the ice. A tile or enamel lined refrigerator has many 
advantages, but any that are properly made if kept 
clean will do good work. Any break should be repaired 
at once, for an overflow of water or a crack in the lin- 
ing may cause an odor which will flavor all food. 
care of The ice should be washed clean before putting in 
place and no food should ever be placed upon it. The 
jars of water chilling for table use are the only things 
to be allowed beside the ice in its compartment. No 
food should be put away while warm. 

How often a refrigerator should be cleaned depends 
upon the way it is used. If nothing is allowed to spjll 
or rub against the sides or shelves, or, when this hap- 
pens, if it is cleaned away at once, and if nothing stays 
there until unfit for food, frequent scalding is un- 
necessary. Every week or fortnight when the ice is 
nearly out remove shelves and scald them thoroughly 
and wash throughout. 

Glass and stone jars, deep earthen and agate plates 
are the best utensils in which to put foods away in the 
refrigerator. 

The principle of the refrigerator is exactly that of 



Freezer 



ICE. 31 

the Aladdin oven — a closet with shelves is put inside a 
case of non-conducting substance. 

On the same plan, our ice cream freezers are built. i ce cream 
The outer tub is a non-conducting substance to pre- 
vent the entrance of heat. 

There are jugs for hot water and coolers for ice 
water constructed according to the same idea. 

Salt is mixed with ice because its affinity for water 
will cause the ice to melt, and when a solid changes to 
liquid form, heat is absorbed from the surrounding 
objects. Cracked ice about the size of coarse rock salt 
is used, the proportion being three parts ice to one of 
salt. 

Ice cream, custard, or fruit juice to be frozen, should 
be more highly flavored and sweetened than if it were 
to be eaten at an ordinary temperature. The organs of 
taste are benumbed by the cold, and a stronger flavor 
is necessary to produce an effect. The cost of ice for 
making frozen desserts is less than the cost of fuel for 
cooking many. 



PREPARATION AND PRESERVATION OF FOODS 



Uncooked 
Food 



Preserving 
Food 



All processes of cooking are the result of gradual 
evolution. Nature ripens fruits and seeds in the sun- 
light. Dry nuts and seeds are stored by squirrels and 
other creatures. Primitive men were but little in ad- 
vance of the squirrel when they saved different grains 
and pounded or parched them for food. 

We may understand better the origin of our proc- 
esses of cooking if we first consider the foods avail- 
able without special preparation. Tropical countries 
have always afforded a variety of fruits capable of sus- 
taining human life. It is estimated that many more 
persons may be supported on a given piece of ground 
planted to bananas than by the same surface planted 
with any crop in a temperate climate. The breadfruit, 
fig, date, and raisin are other important fruit foods. 

In temperate climates without knowledge of agricul- 
ture mankind must depend largely upon animal foods, 
and doubtless here would come the first application of 
heat to change the flavor or to aid in preservation of 
the food from day to day. 

The drying of fruits and the smoking of meats natu- 
rally were the earliest methods of preserving foods. 
Probably the preservative action of smoke was acci- 
dentally discovered and the salting of fish may have 
been derived naturally from its association with salt 
water. 

Since all foods are mainly water it was an immense 
advantage to wandering tribes to reduce their burdens 



32 



PRESERVING FOOD. 



33 



by drying their foods,, Even the most primitive house- 
keepers discovered that in proportion as food parted 
with water it was less liable to ferment, mould, or de- 
cay, though the scientific reason for this that most bac- 
teria can live and develop more rapidly in fluids has 
only been discovered recently by bacteriologists. 

The modern housekeeper seems to be losing the art 
of drying foods, yet in many cases that mode of preser- 
vation is more desirable than canning or cold storage. 



Dried 
Foods 




Dried Prunes Before and After Soaking. v 

One reason why dried fruits have fallen into dis- 
repute is this : To remove the discoloration which takes 
place when cut fruits are dried or evaporated in fac- 
tories they are often bleached by sulphur and suffer 
loss of flavor. Another reason for not using dried 
foods is that it takes time to soak them. 

When they are to be made ready for use the first 
step is to supply as much water as they lost from 
evaporation. This is best accomplished by long soak- 
ing without heat, merely cooking them enough at the 
end to soften tough fibres and to prevent fermenta- 
tion. 



34 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

Honey and olive oil may be considered with the food 
products requiring little preparation. They were 
commonly used by the ancients. 
Nuts Nuts are an important food in some parts of the 

world. The peasantry of southern Europe find in the 
chestnut a substitute for cereals. It is made more di- 
gestible by a partial cooking. The neglect of nuts in 
our country is due to the cheapness of cereal products 
but there is an increasing use of them as a substitute 
for meats. Average shelled nuts have weight for 
weight about twice the fuel value of wheat flour be- 
cause they contain so much fat. Chestnuts are about 
two-thirds starch, and contain little fat. Other nuts are 
from one-third to two-thirds fat. 

It is a common idea that nuts are very indigestible. 
That may be changed if we learn to masticate them 
properly or to grind them and combine with other 
foods instead of eating them without chewing properly, 
as dessert after sufficient nourishment has been taken. 

Nuts and fruits supplement each other, to some ex- 
tent, the one containing what the other lacks. 

The leguminous seeds, peas, beans, lentils, and pea- 
nuts, are somewhat like nuts, but are not so rich in 
fat and are unpalatable unless cooked. Most of our 
common vegetables are the result of ages of cultivation. 

We are only on the threshold of the possibilities of 
combining and preserving fruits. An increased use of 
fruit, fresh and preserved, will tend to cause a di- 
minished use of alcoholic beverages. Fruit juice is one 



Fruits 



Jellies 



CANNING. 35 

of the best agents to quench thirst. A desire for some 
other beverage than water may be taken as a cry for 
food. Fruit juices, hot or cold, will better supply this 
desire than tea or coffee. The expressed juice of real 
fruit may- be sterilized and then charged with carbon 
dioxide, as well as the chemical compounds now sold 
as soft drinks. 

Inferior fruits and skins and cores, if clean, may 
under pressure yield juice for jellies, or to flavor other 
foods. Fruits may be blended, pressed, and strained, 
and used in many ways even for children and invalids 
when the solid particles and seeds would prove irritat- 
ing. The juice of the lemon or orange and the pulp 
of the banana may thus be combined. 

Since modern housekeepers lack patience to dry foods canned 
and soak them out again the canning factory has come Goods 
to their aid. Within the last half century this business 
has developed immensely. Home canning cannot com- 
pete with that of the factory, because there a higher 
temperature is gained which more effectively sterilizes 
the food. 

Canned foods keep because the bacteria in them are 
destroyed and others cannot enter because the air is 
kept out. Fruit will not spoil even if the jar is not 
full, provided the air above it has been sterilized. 

Unfortunately, ignorance of the processes involved 
makes the consumer demand impossibilities in color 
and form, and this has led the manufacturer to use 
artificial colorings freely. 



36 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Preserving 
in Sugar 



Canning 



Preservatives of different kinds have been found to 
be cheaper than care and time expended in the prepara- 
tion. Clean foods keep better than unclean ones, but 
skilled human labor is the means to cleanliness and that 
is expensive. 

Pound for pound preserves which include jellies 
made from fruit juice and marmalades from fruit pulp 
with equal weight of sugar keep even if exposed to air, 
because bacteria do not flourish in dense substances. 

Some fruits are preserved half by drying in the sun- 
shine, half by sugar. Spiced fruits were more common 
before the days of air-tight jars, for spices are enemies 
of bacteria. 

The canning of food is not a complicated process. 
Everything must be clean, that is, free from spores 
of mould or germs that promote decay. Such cleanli- 
ness may be accomplished in part by water, partly by 
heat. The jars, covers, tunnels, and spoons must be 
subjected to boiling water to render them sterile. They 
are usually put in cold water which is slowly brought 
to the boiling point. The scalding of tomatoes and 
peaches not only renders the skin easy of removal but 
sterilizes the outside so that nothing is rubbed on to the 
inner surface as it is peeled, 

An accumulation of dust, mould, and decayed por- 
tions, even if each be slight, cannot but affect the re- 
sult. Therefore the fruit for any purpose must be care- 
fully picked over and washed. Very juicy fruits, like 
currants, may have the juice expressed without first 



CANNING. 37 

•cooking, while others, like the crab apple, require the 
effect of heat to start the juice. 

The utensils for cooking and straining should not be utensils 
of metal if the best flavors of the fruit are to be re- for Cannin e 
tained. Agate or earthen ware kettles, wooden spoons, 
and linen strainers are desirable for this work. If 




PRESERVE JARS. 
"LIGHTNING." IMPROVED "MASON." 

necessary to use metal anywhere, do it as quickly as 
possible, and never leave an iron spoon in a kettle of 
cooked fruit. 

Sugar is not essential to canning, but is usually 
added for flavor and because fruit cooked in a syrup 
keeps its shape better than when cooked in water. 

The best jars are those having glass covers and p rese rve 
fastening with a spring. The screw tops are easily Jars 
rendered imperfect and are hard to close and open. 



38 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

The less lettering there is in the glass the surer we 
are of keeping it clean. The rubber rings spoil 
quickly and none that are stretched or brittle 
should be used. New ones are usually required every 
year. Pint jars are more satisfactory for the average 
family than the larger sizes. 

A grocer's tunnel is desirable for filling the jars, 
and a half-pint dipper with a long handle is another 
help. 
Essential The essential points in canning fruit may be summed 

Points . . . 

up in very few words. All that is necessary is to have 
the fruit and everything that comes in contact with it 
sterilized, and then keep the air away from it. That is, 
the fruit and whatever it touches must be raised to a 
sufficient degree of heat to destroy any micro-organisms 
already there that would cause change of form or de- 
cay. This being done care must be taken that no others 
are allowed to enter through the air. There is no 
magic about it, only constant watchfulness. 

Gentle cooking, long continued, seems to be fatal to 
the bacteria, which might work so much ill, and this 
method is more conducive to preserving the natural 
appearance of the fruit than is intense heat for a short 
period. 

Fruit, vegetables, milk, and meats all are prepared 
in similar fashion. Animal foods spoil easily because 
of their composition, 



CHOICE OF FOOD 

Primitive man made use of anything near his hand 
to satisfy his need and accidents and extreme hunger 
made many foods appetizing to our ancestors which 
might not appeal to us today if we had not inherited the 
taste for them. 

According to W. Mattieu Williams, "the fact that 
we use the digestive and nutrient apparatus of sheep, 
oxen, etc., for the preparation of our food is merely a 
transitory barbarism." Other authorities agree with 
him that the art of cooking may some time be so de- 
veloped as to enable us to prepare the coarser vegetable 
substances in an easily assimilated form without de- 
pending upon animals as middle men. 

The art of the cook has done much to make tin- The Art 
likely food materials attractive, but there is another of Cookin e 
phase of the question, and that is the problem how 
to make what we know is nourishing both pleasant 
and attractive. The cook of the past had to make 
the best possible use of the meager nutrients at hand. 
The cook of the present and future has the harvests of 
the whole world within reach all the year around. 
How shall such abundant material be combined to sat- 
isfy the palate without overloading the digestive or- 
gans? 

More important still, how shall we select and pre- 
pare foods that they may produce sufficient energy in 
the human body for the great tasks awaiting it in our 
complex civilization. 

39 



40 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Classification 
of Food 



Organic 
Foods 



During the last twenty years or less much material 
has been published by the U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture recording the results of investigations. Many 
of these pamphlets can be secured for the asking. 

For practical use all the principal substances found 
in our foods may be classified under five heads : water, 
mineral matter, protein, fat, and carbohydrate. 
The first, and its importance in cooking, has already 
been considered. The second appears in different forms 
in all foods, rarely exceeding one per cent, of their 
natural weight. This it is which remains as ash when 
a food is burned. It is most prominent in the refuse 
portions of food which are removed before coming to 
the table, such as the husks and bones. Some of these 
mineral matters are readily soluble in water, hence are 
lost when no use is made of the water in which vege- 
tables are boiled. 

Common salt is the principal mineral substance in 
use in cooking. 

The other three great classes of food substances 
are known as organic compounds, — the protein, fat, 
and carbohydrate. 

The proteins are subdivided into many classes, but so 
far as practical cooking is concerned, little need be said 
of these here. Since this type of material constitutes 
about one-fifth of the human body by weight it must 
be found in the daily food. Lean meat, eggs, milk 



*Following the nomenclature of the U. S. Department of. 
Agriculture, the term protein is used to denote all classes of 
nitrogenous foods. 



Fats 



CHOICE OF FOOD. 41 

curd, and portions of grains and seeds are the princi- 
pal sources of this class of food. As a whole, protein 
of vegetable origin is more slowly and less perfectly 
absorbed than animal protein. The principal duty of 
nitrogenous foods is to build up the body and to keep 
it in repair. 

Fats are obtained from both animal and vegetable 
sources and for the convenience of the cook are com- 
monly separated by heat or pressure. Considerable fat 
is stored as a reserve fund in the normal human body. 
Its principal office is that of fuel to keep the body's ma- 
chinery going. 

Carbohydrates are chiefly of vegetable origin and in- carbo 
elude starch and sugar. They are not apparent to any 
extent in the body but are important fuel foods, though 
more than two pounds of starch or sugar would be re- 
quired to produce as much energy or bodily heat as one 
pound of fat. 

The provider of food, the cook, and the consumer 
all should be familiar with the composition of com- 
mon foods in order that the daily meals may be adapted 
not only to purse and palate but to climate and the con- 
dition of individual bodies. 



hydrates 



MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 

Milk is a complete food for the young animal because 
it contains the five fundamental types of food ma- 
terial — water, mineral matter, fat, carbohydrate, and 
protein. 

The analysis of average milk is about as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water 87 

Mineral 01 

Fat 04 

Casein .03 

Sugar 05 

1. 00 
Since the fat is the most valuable portion commer- 
cially, dairymen study to feed their cows in such a 
way as to increase it, and in some instances milk has 
been produced containing 6 per cent of fat. 
Use of Though mainly water, milk is a valuable nutritious 

food and should be used freely by itself and in com- 
bination with other food materials, in soups, sauces, 
and puddings. When we remember what the depart- 
ment of agriculture has proved for us, that a quart of 
milk is quite as nourishing as a quart of oysters for 
which we pay six or eight times as much, we can 
see that it is desirable to use it more freely than is 
generally done. Especially during the summer months 
we do well to substitute milk and cheese for meats. 
There are average families which do not use over a 
pint of milk a day ; there are others who find it neces- 

42 



Milk 



of Milk 



MILK. 43 

sary to take a gallon, and the meat bill in the latter 
cases becomes proportionately small. A pint of milk 
a day is not an excessive allowance for each member 
of a family, though many households consume much 
less. 

To study the composition of milk put a quart of composition 
fresh milk in a glass jar and leave it twenty-four hours 
or longer until it is thick and sour. What percentage 
of the whole is the cream ? Remove the layer of 
cream on top to another jar, screw on the top, and 
shake until the fat separates from the watery por- 
tion of the milk. Collect the butter on a spoon, wash 
out the milk by pressing and folding with a knife. 
Weigh or estimate carefully the value of the butter ob- 
tained. What proportion of the original bulk of milk 
does it represent ? Persons fond of unsalted butter may 
thus prepare it for themselves. 

Why is salt added to butter? 

The remainder of the milk, now a thick mass of 
curd, may be pressed out with a spoon or cut with 
a knife to show the greenish water known as whey. 
What nutritive substances are there in this ? 

Turn the thick milk into a two-quart pan and fill 
with hot water, in twenty minutes drain the water off 
through a strainer, that no curd need be lost, and pour 
on more hot water. Do this several times until the 
curd loses its sour taste and has contracted, but do 
not allow it to become too hard. If boiling water is 
used the curd will become unpalatable and indigestible. 



Junket 



44 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

Buttons have been made of sour milk treated by heat 
and pressure, 
sour Press as much water as possible from the curd and 
eteeie compare the quantity with the original amount of 
milk. Remember that this still contains much water. 
Now combine the curd with butter or thick cream, salt 
it and shape in small balls or pack in cups. Thus 
we learn something of the value of milk and have 
made a sour milk cheese more palatable than when 
the whole mass of curdled milk is heated on the stove 
or strained in a cloth. 

With prepared rennet in liquid or tablet form the 
curd and whey of sweet milk may be separated. The 
milk should be warmed slightly before the dissolved 
rennet is added, then chilled in the dishes from which 
it is to be served. This is known as junket or rennet 
custard. 

Absolute cleanliness is essential for every utensil to 
come in contact with milk. The souring of the milk 
is due to the action of bacteria which come to it from 
contact with utensils and the air. Its fluid form and 
nutritive material afford a medium peculiarly favor- 
able to the development of germs of disease, as well as 
to the growth of useful bacteria which aid in butter 
and cheese making. 

The growth of such micro-organisms is hastened by 
moderate heat, but most of them are killed by raising 
the milk to the boiling point. 

Sterilization requires a temperature of two hun- 



MILK. 



AS 



dreri and twelve degrees F, continued for about 
twenty minutes ; this process usually changes the flavor 
of the milk so that it is disagreeable to many palates. 
The high temperature also causes the fat globules 
to separate instead of being retained in the form of 
cream. 

Pasteurization takes its name from the noted French 
scientist, and consists in raising the milk to a tempera- 
ture of about one hundred and fifty-five degrees F. By 
this means the flavor of the milk is unchanged. 

The cook finds it safe to scald the milk for soups, 
bread, or puddings, to prevent its souring during the 
process, before cooking it with the other ingredients. 
There is a gain in the time of cooking when the milk- 
is heated while the other materials are being pre- 
pared. 

A bit of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in milk before 
it is heated often will neutralize any incipient acidity 
and make it usable for puddings or soups. The 
"cream" of tomato soup is liable to curdle unless the 
acid of the tomato is neutralized by soda or the milk 
thickened with flour before the two parts are combined. 
It is safer with all "cream" soups to keep the stock 
and thickened milk apart until just before using. 

Lemon or other acid fruit juices are sometimes 
mixed with milk for sherbet without curdling if, before 
the juice is added, the milk is thoroughly chilled in the 
freezer can. 



To Prevent 
Souring 



Neutralizing 
Acidity 



Mixing 
with Acid 



46 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

Salt sometimes curdles milk, especially when it is 
added to hot milk. 

Since the solid portions of milk readily adhere to 
the bottom of the saucepan placed in direct contact 
with heat, and the resulting burned flavor rapidly pene- 
trates the whole of the milk, a double boiler or its 
equivalent, one dish set in another of boiling water, 
is the best way to heat milk. 

Milk is an important ingredient in preparing cocoa 
and chocolate, and such beverages rank with soup in 
nutritive value. Hot milk sipped slowly is a simple 
remedy. for exhaustion and sleeplessness. Hot milk 
should be served with coffee when cream is not avail- 
able. The milk soups are valuable foods and have as 
their foundation the white sauce described further on. 

Most of our puddings require milk, especially the 
cereal and custard varieties, 
cooking Because there are solids in the milk more time must 
be allowed for the grains of rice or corn meal to 
absorb the moisture than when cooked in water. The 
protein portions of the milk have somewhat the same 
effect as the egg used to coat the croquette or oyster 
before frying. If the particles of grain are thus var- 
nished over they cannot absorb moisture as rapidly 
as from clear water. Hence, it is often advisable to 
cook the grains in water first and finish the procese 
in the milk. 

In making blanc mange from Irish moss, if the 
moss is first cooked in a small quantity of water and 



MILK. 47 

the thick paste strained before it is added to the milk, 
there is no loss of milk. When the moss is cooked di- 
rectly in the milk there is some loss of milk when the 
moss is strained out. 

The baked Indian meal pudding and the creamy rice 
pudding require long, gentle baking. There is a Milk 
continual evaporation of moisture from the surface of 




"BLANC-MANGE." 

the pudding pan, and really a condensing of the milk. 
In proportion as the pudding dish is refilled with milk, 
the pudding increases in nutritive value. 

Milk is commonly used for mixing dough of many 
types and this adds to the nutritive value of bread 
and cakes. 

Bread made of milk or part milk will have a browner, 
tenderer crust than bread made wholly with water. 
There seems to be good ground, however, for the prev- 
alent idea that bread or cake made with milk does 



Concentrated 



Milk 



48 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

not keep so well as that made with water. A cer- 
tain cheesy flavor develops where milk is a principal 
ingredient, 
sour Sour milk is often used for mixing griddle cakes and 
quick doughs, because the acid it contains will be neu- 
tralized by the soda added, and thus produce the effer- 
vescence which makes the dough light. The souring 
process seems to have so affected the protein sub- 
stances in the milk that such a dough is tenderer than 
one made with sweet milk and baking powder. The 
use of sour milk will be further treated in the section 
on doughs, 
skimmed For doughs, soups, and puddings, in which additional 
fat is introduced, skimmed milk may be used as well 
as full milk. 

The use of cream in well-to-do families is increas- 
ing. Whipped cream is demanded as a garnish or 
sauce for many desserts quite complete in themselves. 

The process of beating or "whipping" cream gives 
it an attractive appearance, and by expanding its par- 
ticles probably makes it more digestible. 

BUTTER 

Butter is one of the most digestible forms of fat. An 
ounce of butter a day is a fair allowance for each 
person when meats, lard, olive oil, and cream are used. 
To test this in your own case, divide one ounce of 
butter in three portions, one for each meal, and see 
w.hether you naturally use less or want more. Or, this 



BUTTER. 



49 



may be tried in a family by shaping a portion of but- 
ter into balls with butter paddles and noting the 
amount consumed by each person at the table. An 
ounce of butter is easily secured by cutting a quarter 
pound pat into quarters. Or, if that is not available, 
measure the butter. Two level or one round table- 
spoonful is equivalent to one ounce. A pound of but- 
ter will measure one pint. 




Individual shortcakes to be Served with Whipped Cream. 

Butter is probably rendered slower of digestion by 
cooking, and for this reason it is wiser to flavor foods 
with it after they are cooked. Often it is better to 
allow the individual eater to butter the broiled meat, 
or fish, or mashed vegetables, according to his own 
taste. Then there need be no waste if a portion of 
the whole dish is not eaten, and if the food is re- 
heated the flavor is better. 

In one dietary study of the Department of Agricul- 
ture of the United States (Bulletin 75 from the office of 
Experiment Station), so much butter y ame back in 



Butter 

for Flavoring 



. so PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

the platters where it had been poured over steaks, 
chops, and fish, that it was assumed that none was con- 
sumed. Certainly, in every household considerable but- 
ter and other valuable fat finds its way to the dish 
water. One of the first steps in the application of 
science to housekeeping is to stop such needless waste. 
Composition In a glass measure cup, or a tumbler, put a quar- 

ter of a pound of butter, set the glass in a pan of 
warm water and leave until the butter melts. 

Estimate the percentage of clear fat. 

What other substances appear to be present? 

How does this explain the sour and cheesy tastes 
sometimes noticed in butter? 
white Milk thickened by flour and made richer with but- 

ter and flavored, is known as milk gravy, drawn but- 
ter, or white, or cream sauce. It is a substantial food 
in itself and forms a valuable addition to fish, eggs, 
meats, and vegetables. "By its addition a small por- 
tion of any food substance is extended and made to do 
more service, and flavors too pronounced to be agree- 
able to all are much modified. 

There are several ways of compounding this sauce 
which apply to other sauces in which butter is the 
principal ingredient. A general formula covering the 
ordinary sauces — white, tomato, and brown — is this : 
one ounce of butter, one-half ounce of flour, and one- 
half pint of liquid ; or, to express the same quantities 
in other terms, two level tablespoons of butter, the. 
same of flour, and one cup of 



Sauce 



BUTTER. Si 

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the dry Me thods 
flour, cook and stir until frothy all over, then draw of Making 
to a cooler part of the stove and stir while adding 

the liquid hot or cold, then cook again till thick, stir- 
ring till smooth, 

2. Another way is to rub butter and flour together 
and stir into the warm liquid in a double boiler, then 
stir till thick and smooth. 

3. When thin cream is substituted for butter and 
milk, or when less butter is to be used, rub the flour 
smoothly with a little cold liquid and stir into the re- 
mainder, which should be hot, and cook over water 
until smooth. Then add butter and season. 

The theory of the first method is that the butter at- 
tains a slightly higher temperature than the milk and if 
the flour is combined with the hot butter it is cooked 
more quickly and thoroughly than when put into 
milk. 

In the second case, longer time is required, but the 
flavor of the butter is changed less than by the first 
method. 

The third way is more economical of butter. 

Butter is also used for brown sauces. These are 

Brown 

made after the first plan for the white sauce, but the Sauce 
butter is allowed to brown before the flour is put in, 
and is cooked until a reddish brown hue is acquired 
before the liquid, which is usually brown meat stock, 
is added. 



52 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Varieties 

of White 

Sauce 



Creamed 
Dishes 



'recautions 

in Using 

Butter 



In many other sauces the plan is similar to that 
followed in making the white sauce, but meat stock, 
strained tomato, or other vegetable stocks, are used 
in place of part or all of the milk. 

These sauces are the foundation of many entrees or 
made dishes, such as croquettes and souffles. 

For meat or fish croquettes the sauce is made of a 
double thickness by using only half as much liquid. 
It is then combined with about an equal quantity of 
meat, seasoned and cooled, when the mixture may be 
shaped. Souffles have the sauce as the basis and the 
puffy effect is produced by eggs. 

The usual white sauce, combined with an equal quan- 
tity of meat, fish or vegetable stock, gives us the cream 
soup, cream of chicken, cream of cod, cream of as- 
paragus, etc., etc. 

Since butter is not pure fat but contains water and 
curd, it is less desirable than other fats for greasing 
pans unless it is melted and the fat used alone. 

Except in cases when it is necessary to brown some- 
thing quickly, butter should not be used for frying or 
or sauteing. It is too expensive and burns easily. Be- 
cause of the quantity of milk, often sour, contained in 
butter, it is not strange that some recipes for rich 
cake call for small quantities of soda to balance this 
acidity. For such purposes, butter is frequently 
washed to remove milk and salt. 

That butter responds quickly to changes of tempera- 
ture ghould be. remembered in mixing any dough, 



CHEESE. 



53 



like pastry, when a large proportion of butter is 
used. 

Slightly rancid butter may be made usable for some 
purposes by scalding it in water, then chilling and re- 
moving the cake of fat on top. If further treatment 
is necessary the fat alone may be heated with bits of 
charcoal. 

CHEESE 

The origin of cheese is probably more ancient than 
that of butter. It is a form of dried or condensed milk 
convenient for transportation. Milk is nine-tenths 
water, while cheese contains but a trifle over three- 
tenths water. Average cheese is about one-third each 
water, fat, and casein. 

A pound of cheese costing sixteen cents contains 
about twice as much nutritive matter as a pound of 
meat which will vary in price. There will be less 
waste in the cheese than in an average piece of meat. 
Moreover, cheese has the advantage of keeping better 
than the meat under adverse conditions. Its disad- 
vantages are that because of its concentration it is not 
easy of digestion. This may be overcome somewhat 
by diluting the cheese with milk, as is done in many 
of the rarebits, fondues, and souffles. The addition of 
a small quantity of bicarbonate of potash or soda aids 
in making cheese soluble. There is danger that the 
cheese will be over cooked. When merely melted it is 
probably quite as digestible if used moderately, as 



Rancid 
Butter 



Composition 



Nutritive 
Value 



54 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

many of our common ways of preparing meat. Judg- 
ing from the types of people who depend upon cheese 
largely it might be used with us more generally than 
it is. The annual consumption of cheese in this coun- 
try is only about three pounds per capita. We might 
well use cheese more freely in cooked dishes, for flavor 
as well as for nutriment. 



TEST QUESTIONS 

The following questions constitute the "written reci- 
tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E. 
answer in writing and send in for the correction and 
comment of the instructor. They are intended to 
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important 
points in the lesson. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

PART I. 



Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Do not copy answers from the 
lesson paper. Use your own words, so that the instructor 
may know that you understand the subject. Read the les- 
son paper a number of times before attempting to answer 
the questions. 

1. Give a rough diagram of the stove or range with 

which you are most familiar. Show where in 
the oven and on top of the stove the heat is 
greatest, and explain why. 

2. What is your method of starting and regulating 

a coal fire? 

3. Counting the time required to keep fire and stove 

in good condition, what is the most economical 
fuel within vour reach? 




Fig. 1. Pig. 2, 

4. Fig. 1 represents the dial of gas meter at the 
beginning of the month ; Fig. 2 at the end of 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

the month. What is the reading- in each case, 
and what will he the amount of the bill at $1.25 
per 1,000 feet of gas? 

5. If you use a gas stove, read the meter before and 

after a day's baking and find the cost of fuel. 
If other fuel is used, give the amount and ap- 
proximate cost. 

6. Where, in your experience, would a thermometer 

be helpful in cookery ? 

7. Mention several foods requiring the action of 

heat, yet which need little preparation and few 
utensils. 

8. What different ways have we of cooking with 

the aid of water? 

9. Is it possible to cook in water that does not boil ? 

Give examples. 

10. What gain in cooking certain foods over, rather 

than in, water? Describe utensils by which this 
can be accomplished. 

11. What kinds of foods should be kept in the refrig- 

erator? Describe the refrigerator, or whatever 
is used in its place. 

12. What are the essential points in canning fruit? 

13. How should dried fruit and vegetables be pre- 

pared to restore them as nearly as possible to 
their original condition? 

14. Are there any substances suitable to add to foods 

as preservatives? 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

15. What are the relative merits of paper bags, 

wooden boxes, tin cans, and glass jars for keep- 
ing groceries in pantry or store closet? 

16. How can you determine for yourself that there is 

water and fat in milk, cheese, and butter? 

17. Make a menu for meals for two days, introducing 

as many dishes as feasible that contain milk or 
cheese. 

18. Suggest treatment and uses for sour milk, dry 

cheese, and butter of poor flavor. 

19. Make a white sauce three times or more, putting 

the ingredients together in different order each 
time, and report which seems the most satis- 
factory and expeditious. 

20. Are there any questions which you would like an- 

swered, relating to the topics taken up in this 
lesson ? 

Note. — After completing the test sign your full name. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKING 

PART II 




NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN OF THE OLDEN TIME 
/ 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

PART II 



EGGS 

Since the egg is similar to milk in composition, both 
containing water, fat, and protein, without starch, 
and as there are many simple dishes in which milk and 
eggs are combined, it is natural that that should be our 
next topic. 

The egg may seem a small article to have much space 
devoted to it, but there is no other food so indispensable 
to the art of cooking. A French chef has compared 
the office of eggs in cooking to the usefulness of the, an, 
and a, in conversation, both would be difficult without 
them. „ , . 

Usefulness 

Aside from its great food value, and there is no egg of Eggs 
of bird that may not be eaten, the egg is a general 
harmonizer in the kitchen ; it serves to thicken cus- 
tards and sauces; to clarify soups and jellies; to make 
a coating of crumbs adhere to chops or croquettes ; it 
puffs up souffles ; it leavens a whole group of cakes ; 
it garnishes salads and emulsifies oil into a smooth, rich 
dressing for them, and combined with odd bits of 
fish or meat, it makes many a savory dish of what 
would otherwise be lost. 



56 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

The composition of eggs varies with the kind of fowl 
and its food. The edible portion of the average hen's 
egg is nearly 75 per cent, water, 12 per cent, protein, 
12 per cent, fat, and I per cent, ash or mineral mat- 
ter. 

Since carbohydrates are lacking, we naturally com- 
bine eggs with starches and sugar which supply the 
class of substance missing. 

Like milk, eggs may be eaten either raw or cooked, 
and the ways of cooking eggs, however elaborate they 
seem, may be reduced to a few simple processes. 

We shall have the key to all cookery of eggs if we 
study some eggs cooked by moderate and some by 
intense heat. 
Effect' To see how the egg is affected by different degrees 
on Eggs °i heat, we may poach several eggs, or drop them 
from their shells into water at different temperatures. 
When an egg is dropped into a saucepan with cold 
water, and heat applied, before the egg begins to cook, 
the egg and water mingle somewhat, showing that a 
portion of the raw egg is soluble in cold water. As the 
water is heated, this soluble egg becomes cooked and 
rises in a thick froth on top, and if the cooking is 
continued longer, this froth may contract and settle. 
This point is turned to the cook's advantage in clear- 
ing jellies, soup stocks, and coffee. Thus even the lit- 
tle portion of the egg white adhering to the shell is 
sometimes utilized for clearing coffee. 



EGGS. 57 

When an egg is dropped directly into boiling water, 
the outer portions of it are hardened by the heat. This 
cooked egg does not appear to be soluble itself and, 
moreover, protects the under portion until that also 
is penetrated by the heat. 

Experiment. — Boil one egg rapidly ; put another into 
the boiling water, remove from the stove, and let 
stand for fifteen minutes or more. Compare tempera- 
tures with a thermometer. See which egg is more ten- 
der, and presumably, more easy of digestion. 

The white and yolk of eggs cook at different tern- Temperature 
peratures, and these appear to vary slightly with the Eggs° oking 
freshness of the egg. For general use it is sufficient to 
remember that 150 to 180 F is ample heat for dishes 
composed mainly of eggs and milk. When starch is 
used, a higher temperature is required, and whenever 
possible, this should be obtained before combination 
with the eggs. Having learned this, we have the key 
to the successful cooking of all custards and the like. 
A custard that has curdled, or wheyed, or settled in 
the center, has cooked too long, or in too hot an oven. 
The custom of setting a custard in a pan of water 
in the oven is wise, for the moisture lowers the tem- 
perature of the oven. Excessive beating of eggs may 
aid the curdling of the custard ; it certainly is a waste 
of effort here, however it may be in cake making. 

Average custards are made with three to six eggs to custards 
a quart of milk ; naturally the larger number makes a 
firmer custard, but the other is quite palatable. Often 



Eggs 
w?th Starch 



58 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

gelatine or corn starch is used to assist in thickening 
milk when eggs are expensive, but these combinations 
are not real custards. 

There is a long list of puddings where a custard 
or egg and milk are combined with starchy materials. 
In such cases as have already been stated, it is wise to 
have the starch, whether in the form of rice, tapioca, 
sago, or corn starch, cooked in the milk before the 




POACHED EGGS ON I'ISII BALLS. 



Dropped 
■ Egg 



egg is added. Bread or cracker crumbs may be com- 
bined directly with the milk, for then the starch has al- 
ready been cooked. 

A single dropped egg may show that water need not 
boil in order to cook an egg. Even if a thermometer is 
not available, it can be seen that the white of the 
egg instantly changes in appearance when it comes in 
contact with water far below the boiling point. A muf- 
fin ring placed in the water assists in keeping the egg 



EGGS. 



59 



in good shape. A little salt and lemon juice or vinegar 
in the water makes the egg harden quickly on the out- 
side instead of mingling with the water. 

Since we reckon the cost of other foods by the V aiu© 
pound, for easy comparison we must estimate the value 
of eggs on the same basis. It will be found that the 
average hen's egg weighs about two ounces, and that 
eight good sized eggs in their shells, or nine or ten 
shelled eggs, weigh one pound. The fuel required, 
the labor of preparation, and the waste are much less 
with eggs than for most other foods. 

Some experiments recorded in "Eggs and Their 
Uses as Food" (Farmers' Bulletin No. 128, U. S. 
Dept. Agl.), show that it cost more than twice as 
much to serve and satisfy at breakfast a family of over 
one hundred women in a college boarding hall with 
mutton chops or beefsteak at less than 20c. per pound, 
than with eggs at 25c. a dozen. 

Commercially, there are many grades of eggs, de- Preserving 
pendent upon their age. Cold storage has done away 
with most other methods of preserving eggs. Anything 
that will exclude air, without bringing ill flavor to the 
tgg, will aid in preserving it. Eggs are available al- 
most everywhere at all seasons and even at their high- 
est prices, are not more expensive than the choicer 
cuts of meat. 

An inferior egg injures all other materials with 
which it is combined, therefore it is never economy to 
buy poor eggs. When eggs are high do without them, 



6o 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Variety 



jorobinations 

to Reduce 

Cost 



making dishes which require few, if any ; then when 
they are again plenty they will be all the more appetiz- 
ing. With proper conditions for keeping eggs, it may 
be economy for some housekeepers to buy a large quan- 
tity in the fall and pack them carefully in an upright 
position, but many find it better to give the grocer 
a few cents more than to take the time and rrsk of 
loss. 

COMBINATION OF EGGS WITH OTHER FOODS. 

Any fundamental food, like the egg, must be served 
in a variety of ways or we tire of them. Foods having 
short seasons should be prepared in the simplest 
fashion. 

The nutritive value of the food is not materially 
changed by a variation in the method of cooking, pro- 
vided no additions are made to it. It may appeal more 
to the palate in one form than another, and the time 
of digestion may vary, though in the end as much may 
be absorbed in the one case as in the other. 

To illustrate this point, let us take two eggs costing 
at average prices two cents each, or four cents. 
Whether boiled in the shell or dropped from the shell 
into boiling water, their food value would be practi- 
cally the same ; when scrambled or made into an 
omelet there is a slight addition of nutritive material. 

But the rigid economist says that eggs at two cents 
apiece are too expensive for the family of limited 
means. Then comes in the art of cooking to show how 
the eggs may be combined with less costly food ma- 



EGGS. 61 

terials to make several palatable dishes which may 
take the place of meats and yet require but little more 
labor in preparation. 

First, the two eggs may be combined with one cup of with 
white sauce ; this may be served with the omelet, or sauce 
blended with the scrambled egg, or made into a souffle, 
or served with hard boiled eggs chopped or sliced. 

The identical quantities might be used in each case. 
By such combination the cost of the dish is doubled, but 
it will go at least twice as far and its fuel value is more 
than trebled. Or, instead of the sauce, we may use 
one cup of milk thickened with white bread crumbs and 
well salted and omit the butter or use less. This will 
reduce both cost and fuel value. 

The foundation may be again extended and varied. 
To the two eggs and cup of white sauce may be added cheese 
two ounces of grated cheese or two ounces of chopped 
ham. If the ham is of average fatness, the fuel value 
of the cheese and ham will be about the same. The 
ham might be more expensive than the cheese were 
it not that this is a way to turn to good account the 
smaller bits of meat. By this addition the dish, at two 
and a half times the cost of the eggs, becomes about 
five times as efficient in fuel value. 

This combination may be served in many forms, — serving 
the cheese may be warmed in the sauce and poured 
over the eggs hard boiled, poached or made into an 
omelet, and the ham might be used in the same way. 

After mixing sauce, cheese, and yolks of raw eggs, 



Sponge 
Cake 



62 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

the stiff whites of the egg may be folded in and the 
mixture baked in one dish or several little ones. 

All such combinations are naturally eaten with some 
form of bread, and here again the whole cost is di- 
minished with an increase of fuel value. 

A summary of these possible combinations may be 
clearer in tabular form, as follows : 

Weight. Cost. Cal. 

2 eggs 4 oz. 4c. 161 

White Sauce : 

1 C. milk 8 oz. 2c. 162 

Butter 1 oz. 2c. 217 

Flour l / 2 oz. 51 

Cheese 2 oz. 2c. 246 

Ham 2 oz. 2c. 207 

It would be interesting to trace the history of egg 
cooking and find who first discovered that eggs cooked 
in milk, sweetened and flavored, made the palatable 
compound we know as custard; or who first discovered 
the delicious sponge cake or "diet bread," as our fore- 
mothers called it. 

All our modern recipes for sponge cake, angel cake, 
lady-fingers, and sponge drops, are but slight varia- 
tions from the recipes to be found in old cook books, 
which call for the weight of the eggs in sugar and half 
the weight of the eggs in flour. 

The tendency of the artistic cook is to separate the 
two parts of the egg, using the yolk to produce cer- 
tain effects and the white for others. 

The proportions are about the same in the angel cake 



EGGS. 



63 



as in the sponge cake, but the egg whites only are 
used. The egg yolks, left from such cakes, are more 
desirable than the whole egg for many custards and 
sauces, producing a richer and more creamy effect, 
since the yolk of egg contains considerable oil. 

Eggs in doughs may better be studied here with 
other qualities of eggs rather than later with doughs. 

Under this head may be included noodles, pop- 
overs, Yorkshire pudding, cream puffs, eclairs, tim- 




liUG TIMBALES. 



bale cases, fritters of many varieties, as well as sponge 
and angel cakes and macaroons. 

From a study of these distinctly egg doughs we may 
see why eggs are added to muffins, puddings, etc. 

These may be divided into three classes : ( 1 ) When 
the egg is used merely to stick flour together, such as 
noodles and timbale cases. (2) When the cake re- 
sulting is to be hollow like popovers and puffs, then 
the egg is beaten with the other ingredients. (3) 
Where a spongy texture is desired, the eggs are sep- 
arated and beaten separately. 

For such mixtures as the first class lightness is not 
essential, is really undesirable ; hence, the eggs are 



Eggs in 
Doughs 



Classes of 
Egg Doughs 



64 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Hoodies 



Timbales 



beaten only enough to blend yolk and white, and not 
to mix air with them. In noodles, which are a kind 
of egg macaroni, the egg supplies liquid as well as aids 
in sticking the particles of flour together. After a stiff, 
smooth dough is made, it is rolled much thinner than 
would be possible if it did not contain egg. Then it is 




Pop Overs — an Example Dtmgu liaised by the Expansion of Air. 

cut in strips or fancy shapes and may be cooked at once 
or dried and used like macaroni. 

The timbale cases are made from a thin batter, in 
which, to egg and flour, milk and small quantities 
of fat and sugar are added, and the whole beaten to- 
gether until smooth. If the batter is then allowed to 
stand until the air bubbles escape, the timbale cases 
will have fewer holes in them. The hot timbale iron 
is then dipped into the batter and the coating adher- 
ing is fried until crisp. 



EGGS. 



65 



The second class should be hollow, and to secure 
this result the eggs are beaten without separating 
yolk and white, or better still, are dropped in with the 
other ingredients and all beaten together. 

Popovers are the result of a very thin batter, usually 
one cup each of flour and milk, one egg, and a little 
salt. This is beaten thoroughly together with a Dover 



Popover 




SPONGE CAKE. 



beater, poured quickly into greased cups, iron or 
earthen, and baked until thoroughly done. Yorkshire 
pudding is a similar combination. 

Cream puffs have a cooked foundation of water, but- 
ter and flour ; to this when cool the eggs are added and 
beaten into it one by one. Because of the scalding 
of the flour this is a stiff mixture and will keep its 
shape when dropped on flat pans, and will puff while 
baking. The same mixture, fried in deep fat, produces 
a hollow fritter which may be filled like a cream puff. 



Cream 
Puffs 



66 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Spongy 
Mixtures 



Beating 
Eggs 



Cooking 



For the third class of egg doughs and for meringues 
and puffy omelets, the whites of eggs are beaten by 
themselves and mixed with special care into the other 
ingredients that none of the air which has been en- 
tangled may be lost. This air expands when heated, 
producing the delicate lightness of the meringue, or 
sponge, or angel cake. 

The use of a whisk on a platter is the best way of 
quickly converting the slippery egg white into a frothy, 
flaky mass, so firm and dry that it may be turned up- 
side down without slipping from the platter. 

Egg beaters are not absolutely essential, for the work 
may be done with a fork in time. The whisks are 
best for beating whites alone — those with cog wheels 
for the whole egg or for beating batters. 

When yolk and white are mixed, it is impossible to 
beat in as much air as into the white alone, probably be- 
cause of the oil contained in the yolk. Even a very 
little of the yolk will prevent the whites from becom- 
ing a stiff froth. 

Popovers, meringues, and sponge cake, like other 
articles containing large proportions of egg, require 
long cooking at moderate heat. When taken from the 
oven too soon they shrivel out of shape. 

It is not wise to make cheap cakes and try to make 
baking powder take the place of eggs in making the 
mass light. When eggs are cheap, make good cakes 
and custards, but when they are high in price, de- 
pend upon desserts where they are not required. 



FISH, FOWL, AND FLESH. 

Two important animal products, milk and eggs, have 
been studied, and we come now to a consideration of 
the flesh of animals as food. The cooking of the flesh 
in any way is a comparatively simple matter once we 
have mastered a few fundamental laws which are prac- 
tically the same as in cooking eggs. 

The choice of different sections of a creature for 
different purposes and the decision as to best ways of 
cooking whatever cut happens to be available, are less 
simple. 

The primitive cook applied heat to his fish, fowl, 
or section of meat and consumed it when cooked. The 
modern marketmen first divide and clean, then the 
chef seasons and applies the heat in different ways to 
the various portions. One part is naturally tender and 
ready for immediate cooking, another will be better 
if kept a week or a month, others will be improved by 
salting or smoking. 

Savages have fewer kinds of food and simpler meth- 
ods of preparation than civilized man. Because of 
greater abundance it is a natural tendency in civiliza- 
tion to discard as refuse certain portions formerly 
eaten. On the other hand, business competition makes 
it necessary to save all by-products and every por- 
tion of an animal is used for some purpose and brings 
some money return, even though small. Were it not 
for this, our animal foods would be higher in price 

67 



68 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Meat a 

Secondary 

Product 



Comparative 

Composition 

of Animal 

Food 



Costs of 
Meat 



than they are. As it is, they are. the most expensive 
part of the daily food. 

This is partly due to the fact that the flesh of ani- 
mals is a secondary product. Animals consume grains 
and require additional human care, and. thus must 
cost more than the grains, themselves, alone. More- 
over, it has been learned by dietary studies that average 
families in the United States obtain from half to 
two-thirds of the protein in their food from animal 
source, and the cost of food is usually proportionate 
to the demand. 

The composition of all animal foods is similar. 
Milk is mainly water, but contains some of each of 
the food principles. Eggs have less water than milk,, 
and no carbohydrates, but furnish larger proportions 
of fat and protein. Fish would* average about the 
same proportion of protein as eggs, but rather less 
fat. Poultry yields more protein than eggs, but about 
the same amount of fat. The flesh of the larger ani- 
mals will average about two-thirds water, the pro- 
tein and fat being in varying proportions according to 
the age and condition of the animal. 

Without regard to the names given by marketmen of 
different localities to the cuts of meat, we may learn 
the location of the choicest pieces. Cuts which offer 
tender muscle or large proportion of muscle will natu- 
rally command the higher prices. 

In any of these animals the framework of bone is 
practically the same. The larger portion of bone is 



MEAT. 



69 



in the forequarter. This is one reason why the fore- 
quarters are cheaper than hindquarters in our mar- 
kets. Consequently, there is less nutritive value per 
pound and what there is is less accessible, for the meat 
is not easily carved unless boned before cooking - . 

Meat of any kind should have little odor when in 
good condition. It should be firm and dry rather than 



Judging 

Meat 




LAMB CHOPS AND KIDNEYS. 



moist, and should be well marbled with fat. 

The lower part of the legs will have little muscle in 
proportion to the bone, and there will be tendons hold- 
ing the muscle to the bone. 

Muscles getting little motion or exercise will be 
tender, while those which are active will be tough, 
though juicy. The neck and legs, therefore, will be 
suitable for broths but not desirable for roasts. 

A general rule is this : the market value of meat 
increases backward from the head, but decreases down- 



Toughnesr 



70 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

ward toward the legs. This brings the choicest cuts 
in the back upper part of the creature and includes 
the rump and loin. 

The muscle of good beef is dark red when first 
cut and grows brighter when exposed to the air for a 
short time. The fat is yellowish white. 
Mutton Mutton and lamb have a hard white fat. The flesh 

and Lamb Q f mutton is a duller red than beef. The lamb is 
pinkish in tinge. The bones of veal and lamb are 
smaller than those of beef and mutton. Veal and fresh 
lean pork are somewhat the same shade of dull pink, 
but the pork has more fat mixed with it. 

Meat from young animals is tender but not so nu- 
tritious, and does not keep so well as that from older 
ones. 

The heart, liver, sweetbread, kidney, tripe, are also 
used as food and the same general laws govern the 
methods of cooking them. 

The chef may not recognize the same elements in 
meat that the chemist does, yet his choice and prepara- 
tion of a cut of meat are based upon its composition. 
From this point of view, meat consists of three 
parts : lean muscle, fat, and bone, and the market value 
of any cut is based upon its relative proportion of 
these. 

Lean meat is most desired and tender fibres com- 
mand the higher prices. Some fat is utilized with 
the meat, but a large part goes to the manufacture of 
artificial butter, lard, and soap. Much of the bone is 



MEAT. 



n 



refuse, but some of its substance may be extracted by 
right treatment. 

The lean portion of meats is about one-fifth or twenty 
per cent, protein about five times as much as in an 
equal weight of milk. 

The muscle or the lean meat may be freed from 
skin, gristle, bone, and fat, wholly or in part before 
cooking. It is easier to serve when this is done, and 
there is no waste at the table, but there may be loss 
of flavor. Raw meat may be digested readily, but we 
cook it to make it more attractive in appearance and 
more appetizing in flavor. 

Some fat is required to keep the meat from drying 
during the cooking process. Often the muscle is so 
closely associated with bone, tendon, and gristle, that 
to remove them would cause serious loss of juice. In 
any case, when the tougher portions are removed they 
should be used for stock and their flavor returned to 
the muscle as a sauce or used for soup or other good 
purpose. 

Tender muscles may be cooked quickly — steaks and 
roasts — and should be exposed to intense heat at first. 

Tougher portions may be made more palatable by 
pounding to separate the connective tissue, but this is 
often accompanied by loss of juice, or they may be 
put through the meat chopper or cooked slowly for a 
long time in a gravy, or both. 

By browning tough meat first we give it a good 
flavor and sear the surface so that more of the juice will 



Preparation 



Some Fat 
Needed 



Tough 
Meat 



Browning 



72 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Braising 



Salt Meat 



Fatness 



be retained than if raw meat were used. Some scraps of 
fat may be browned, an onion sliced and fried in the 
fat, an equal measure of flour added, and when it is 
mixed smoothly with the fat, water is put in, in the 
same proportions as for white sauce. The meat is put 
in the gravy and left covered on the back of the stove 
to cook slowly, later vegetables are added. 

Braised meat and pot roasts are similar in effect, but 
large pieces of meat are used and more time is re- 
quired. All the trimmings, except the fat, are put with 
the bones, covered with cold water and the kettle is 
set on the stove to heat slowly. 

Salt meats should be cooked slowly in plenty of 
water until tender. When the meat is very salt, it 
should be put on in cold instead of boiling water. 

Wild animals usually are less fat than those that 
have been raised for food. Excessive fat may mean 
disease. Young animals have but little fat compared 
with older ones. Half the weight of a pig may be 
fat and a fourth of a fat sheep or ox. Some portions 
of a creature will contain much more fat than others. 
Layers of fat occur around the inner organs of ani- 
mals. Some fish have fat or oil in the liver and little 
or none elsewhere. Fat mingled with the lean tissues is 
partly visible, partly detected only by chemical meth- 
ods. 

To a certain extent fat takes the place of water in 
the tissues. In fat meat the purchaser gets the same 
amount of protein but buys fat instead of water. 




SAUSAGE AND FRIED APPLES. 



heated slowly to separate the clear fat from the heavy, 
honeycomb-like tissues which contain it. At the end 
of several hours the fat will have melted and may be 
strained from the crisp brown tissues. If raised to 
too high a temperature the fat is less wholesome and 
well flavored. 

In the average household, trimmings of beef, pork, 
veal, lamb, and poultry, may be prepared together for 



Saving 



MEAT. ■ 73, 

The surplus fat purchased with meats should be 
turned to good account by clarifying it for shortening the Fat 
or frying. It should be freed from the protein mat- 
ter as far as possible by trimming and soaking in cold 
salted water. The water should be changed often, and 
the fat, after being cut in small pieces, may soak from 
twelve to twenty-four hours. Then it is drained and 



Frying in 



74 - PRINCIPLES OP COOKERY. 

fry fat, and where much meat is used will keep a sup- 
ply in the frying kettle. 

Frying in deep fat is a satisfactory method of se 
Deep Fat - curm g a c ri S p ; brown crust. When the process is prop- 
erly conducted very little fat is absorbed by the food. 

The temperature of fat suitable for cooking is much 
higher than that of boiling water and ranges from 
300 to 400 F, according to the nature of the article 
to be cooked. For doughs which should rise, and fish 
which must be Cooked through, a lower temperature 
and longer time are required than for fishballs or cro- 
quettes, already cooked and only to be browned. 

If many pieces of cold food are put into the kettle 
of fat at one time, the temperature will be lowered so 
much that they may absorb fat and even fall to pieces. 
Testing A bit of bread dropped into the kettle will brown 
in one minute if the fat is right for frying doughs, and 
in less time if it is ready for croquettes. 

Fat by itself does not boil, but when moist food 
is put into it large bubbles of steam begin to form. 
At first the foods being cold and heavy sink to the 
bottom of the kettle ; as they warm and the water es- 
capes, they rise toward the top. 

As soon as the food is brown it should be removed 
from the fat and drained on soft paper before serv- 
ing. 

The bones of animals yield considerable nutritive 
material if we use proper methods to extract it. Mar- 



Temperature 



gones 



MEAL\ 



75 



row is found in the leg bones, but they have not so 
much protein matter as the spongy rib bones. When 
meat is boned before cooking, bits of meat cling to 
the bone. By soaking in cold water, then cooking 
gently, a large part of the flavor and nutritive part 
of the bone is dissolved in the water. Cartilage, gristle 



Extracting 
Nutriment 




MEAT LOAF IN RICE. 



and tendons are also somewhat soluble when exposed 
to moisture and heat. The smaller the pieces into 
which bone and meat are divided the greater the sur- 
face exposed to the dissolving action of the water. The 
flavors of meat which are drawn into the water are 
known as extractives and are stimulating rather than 
nourishing, 



76 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

Soup This process of extraction from portions unsuit- 

stook a bi e to eat j s } <nown as making soup stock. Bouillon 

and beef tea are made from tousrh lean meat with little 




FILLET CUT FROM SIDE OF FISH. 

or no bone. Consomme is made from meat and poul- 
try together. Anything that would give a strong 
flavor must be removed. The skin of lamb or beef 
should be thrown away. 

Names The flavoring; of the soup or the sjarnisli served in it 

of Soups . . ... 

gives its distinctive name. All meat, poultry, and 

fish soups have as their basis a stock made from the 

portions undesirable to use in any other way. 

Yet stock contains but a small proportion of the 

nutriment of the meat, and fibre of the meat from 

which stock has been made may be used for hashes, 

with herbs, etc., to give flavor. 



FISH, FOWL AND FLESH. 



77 



FISH. 

Fresh fish have full lifelike eyes, red gills, silvery, 
not slimy skin and scales, firm tail, not flabby and 
drooping, and firm flesh. Plump short fish are better 
than long thin ones of the same variety. The time of 
their transfer from the water to the table should be as 
short as possible. While fish as a whole is not so nu- 
tritious as meat, it may often take the place of meat 
on our tables. It is the province of the cook to sup- 
plement the fish with such sauces as will supply both 
flavor and nutriment. 

In general, the methods of cooking fish are the same 
as those followed in cooking meats. The flesh should 
be thoroughly cooked, but not overdone. Oily fish, like 



Proper 
Appearand 



Methods; 
of Cooking 




For Fish Stock, 



PREPARATION OF FISH. 



Ready to Fry. 



salmon and mackerel, are best broiled. Almost any 
fish may be baked whole or in fillets. Boiling is an 
extravagant method of cooking unless the water is 
used for a soup or a sauce. Steaming is better than 



78 



PRINCIPLES OP COOKERY. 



boiling, as more of the flavor is retained in the fish. 
Frying in salt pork fat is a desirable way to cook fish 
lacking flavor or fat, but for uniformity in cooking the 
kettle of deep fat is to be preferred to the thin layer 
in a shallow pan. 

If a fish lacking in fat is brushed over with oil or 
melted butter and broiled under gas, the result gives the 
best effects of frying without the disagreeable odors. 




FISH STUFFED AND TRUSSED FUR BAKING. 



Sauces 
with Fish 



Fish stock may be kept for several days if convenient, 
or it may be used as the basis of a sauce to serve with 
the fillets of the flesh. 

Since so many varieties of fish lack fat, rich sauces 
are generally considered a necessary accompaniment. 
The composition of the fish and the way in which it is 
cooked should decide the kind of sauce to be served 
with it. Acids like lemon juice, pickles, and tomato 
are often agreeable additions to a fish sauce. 



FISH, FOWL AND FLESH. 79 

POULTRY 

Young birds are to be chosen for broiling and other judging 
quick cooking, but full grown fowls are more nutritious 
for broths and stews. A fowl is usually fatter than a 
chicken, the skin is tougher, and the bones — especially 
the tip of the breast bone — are harder. In the skin of 
the young bird there are usually pinfeathers, the feet 
are smoother, and the muscles or flesh are less well 
developed than in the fowl. 

To prepare poultry, pick out pinfeathers, singe and Preparing 
rub off the hairs and wipe clean. Cut through the Fricassee 
loose skin on the back, pull away from the neck, take 
out the crop and windpipe in front, cut off the neck. 

Cut through the skin on the legs about an inch 
below the joint, break the bone, twist the leg and 
pull out the tendons one by one. Take off the wings 
and cut through the loose skin on the sides and sep- 
arate the leg and thigh joints. 

From backbone to tip of breastbone cut through thin 
muscles on either side. This exposes the interior or- 
gans so that it is easy to learn their relative positions. - 
Then one knows how to proceed when preparing a 
bird to roast when the opening is small. 

Loosen the membranes which attach these organs 
to the body, following the breastbone with the fingers 
until the point of the heart is felt. Then remove heart, 
liver, and gizzard together. The gallbag is protected 
bv the liver, so there is little danger of breaking it if 



POULTRY. 81 

they arc not separated. The intestines should be re- 
moved when the fowls are dressed for market. 

Next detach the lungs from the backbone near the 
wings, and the kidneys, which are lower down in the 
back. These are not used. 

Separate the gallbag from the liver without break- 
ing, and cut away any portions of the liver which are 
tinged with green. Cut across the larger end of the 
heart and slip it out of the membrane enclosing it. 
Cut through the gizard on the wide side and take out 
the inner portion without breaking, if possible. 

Learn the order of removal of these portions from order of 
the body, and then nothing will be forgotten when Removal 
preparing a bird for any purpose, — the crop and wind- 
pipe from the neck. 

The heart, liver, and gizzard, together, from an open- 
ing near the tail. 

The lungs and kidneys from the hollows in the back- 
bone. 

The oil bag on the upper part of the tail. 

The backbone can now be divided near the middle, 
and by slipping a knife under the sharp end of the 
shoulder blade and then cutting through the ribs from 
the point where the wings come off, the upper part 
of the back is separated from the breast. 

If desired, the fillets of white flesh can be separated 
from the breastbone and wishbone by running the 
knife close to the bones. 



82 



■PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Never soak a fowl in water, as is often the practice. 
If any parts need washing rinse them off quickly one 
by one. 

The breastbone, upper part of back and neck, and 
sharp ends of wings should be put in cold water and 




CHICKEN STUFFED AND TRUSSED FOR ROASTING. 



Put in 
Boiling 
Water 



heated slowly ; thus more flavor is extracted from these 
portions which have but little meat. 

When the water is boiling hot the other sections are 
put in and the hot water coagulates the juices on the 
outside and thus more flavor is retained. To accom- 
plish the same end, the joints are often browned in hot 
fat and then are stewed afterward. 



Softening 



VEGETABLES AND GRAINS. 

Like the foods already studied, vegetables are mainly 
water, but all the five food principles may be ob- 
tained from the vegetable kingdom. Here we secure 
our supplies of starch and sugar, or the carbohydrates, 
but the proportions of proteid and fat are, as a whole, 
smaller than in the animal foods. From fruits, vege- 
tables, and grains we obtain mineral substances valu- 
able for making bones and teeth and keeping the whole 
system in good condition. 

The woody fibre or cellulose, abundant in vegetable 
structures, is the great obstacle to be overcome by Celluloae 
cooking. Plants growing rapidly with plenty of 
water and sunshine usually have less of this fibre, and 
it is the aim of the gardener to eliminate it as far as 
possible. By improved methods of cultivation the 
agriculturist has removed the acrid flavors of the nat- 
ural vegetables and has reduced the proportion of 
woody fibre. 

The cell walls cannot be separated wholly from the 
nutritive substances they contain, and unless softened 
by cooking may irritate the alimentary canal so that 
the whole .is hurried through before digestion is com- 
pleted. Cellulose, though of little food value, may aid 
digestion by providing the necessary bulk for its me- 
chanical processes. 

Experiment. To get a clear idea of the structure 
and composition of vegetables, grate a portion of a 

83 



8 4 ■ PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

potato or turnip. Let the pulp fall from the grater 
into a strainer placed over a glass and press out all 
the watery juice possible. Some of the starch of the 
potato will settle from the juice, and more may be 
washed out of the mass remaining in the strainer. The 
presence of sugar in the juice of a carrot may be recog- 
nized by tasting it after evaporation. 

By examination of the woody fiber left in the strain- 
er we see how closely it is connected with the starch 
and sugar, how impossible it would be to separate 
it, and the necessity for softening it that we may be 
able to digest the nutrients. 

We discard portions of vegetable foods, the pods, 
husks, cobs, etc., because of our inability to cook them 
so they can be digested. 

Chopping and straining aid the cook in dividing the 
cellulose so that the particles are less irritating and 
the nutrients are more accessible. 

Parts of It is interesting to note the different parts of plants 

a forFood which are used for food — the roots, tubers or bulbs, 
stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds. The last are used 
mainly in the dry form, and absorb much water in 
preparation. This must be remembered when study- 
ing analyses of dried legumes and cereals. 

The botanical grouping of plants is helpful. Once 
we have learned how to prepare and cook one member 
of a plant family we have something to guide us with 
its relatives. Among the principal classes to study in 



VEGETABLES. 



§5 



this way are the pulses, the grains, and the cabbage 
family. 

There are many kinds of each vegetable offered by 
the seedsmen. Moreover, any vegetable differs ma- 
terially in different years and at different seasons of 
the year. 

From the standpoint of the cook a convenient classi- 
fication of vegetables may be made according to the 
general preparation, the time, and the amount of 
water required for cooking them. 

Dried vegetables must have abundant water sup- 
plied and must be allowed time to> soak, thus absorb- 
ing an amount of water similar to that lost in the dry- 
ing process. There is little difference aside from the 
fat added in cooking, in the analysis of the dry bean 
which has been soaked and baked, and that of the 
green shelled bean. Sometimes we try to hasten this 
process of absorption by heat, but the best results 
are attained when dried fruits or vegetables are soaked 
until at least double in size before cooking. 

Old or strongly flavored vegetables, such as pota- 
toes, turnips, and onions, will be improved by the re- 
moval of the skin and any imperfections before cook- 
ing, and bv soaking in cold water for an hour or two. 
Inferior onions may be scalded in soda water before 
cooking, and by changing the water once or twice dur- 
ing the cooking process will be rendered less strong 
in flavor. It is wiser to make the vegetable palatable 



Dried 
Vegetables 



Strongly 
Flavored 
Vegetables 



VEGETABLES. 



87 



at the risk of some loss of nutriment than to retain 
everything and have it uneatable. 

Young- vegetables in summer and those having 
sugary juices, like squash and beets, should be cooked 
in little water or by steaming or baking, so that all 
their sweetness may be retained, unless the water is 
reserved for soup or used in a sauce for the vegetable 
itself. 

Slightly wilted vegetables may be improved by 
washing and soaking or by wrapping in a damp cloth 
and placing in the refrigerator or by hanging in a 
draft of air. 

The pulses or leguminous plants include the bean, 
lentil, pea, and peanut. 

In the bean we have an example of a vegetable which 
differs much at different stages of growth. We may 
use the pods before the seeds they contain have 
reached their normal size, the full grown seeds may 
be cooked green, or dry after first being soaked. 

This class of plants is of great value where people 
must be fed at small expense. They are staples in 
in China, Japan, Southern Europe and Mexico, are in- 
valuable in prisons, charitable institutions, and for the 
pioneer or logger. Because they lack fat, cream, 
butter, or pork are added before eating. 

Some varieties like the Japanese soy beans, contain 
as much as sixteen per cent of fat, and peanuts are 
more than one-third, or about forty per cent fat. 



Young- 
Vegetables 



Wilted 
Vegetables 



Fat 
Contents 



88 • PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

©igestibiiity Though rich in nutrients this class of vegetables ap- 
pears to be slow of digestion. The ease and complete- 
ness of digestion are aided by thorough cooking and 
by removing the skins, grinding, mashing, or strain- 
ing. Long, gentle cooking develops new flavors and 
removes the peculiar granular texture present in beans 
and peas insufficiently cooked, even after straining. 



; 






'\~^m 


^o^ 


w 


i" ■ - ■■- 







Black Bean Soup Garnished with Lemon and Parsley. 



Peas 



The main object in cooking beans, like all vegeta- 
bles, is to soften the tough fibres of the pods of the 
string beans and the skins and cellulose of the dry 
ones. 

Split peas have the skins removed and thus are 
more readily digested. The skins of the larger beans 
may be rubbed off after soaking and parboiling. 

Hard water retards the cooking of beans and a bit 
of soda is often added to soften the water and loosen 



VEGETABLES. 



the skin — this water is poured off when the beans are 
partly cooked. 

Few people use the variety of beans they might, as 
the black beans for soup, the limas or red kidney 
for stewed beans, the pea bean and yellow eye for 
baking- and the French flageolets for salads. 

Potatoes are generally liked because of their lack 
of pronounced flavor, and for the same reason, may 
be combined with many other foods. 

A peck of potatoes may cost from fifteen to seventy- 
five cents, according to the season of the year, and the 
abundance of the crop. This quantity will weigh fif- 
teen pounds and will average from fifty to sixty po- 
tatoes. That is, one pound will be about four pota- 
toes of medium size, and will cost from one to five 
cents. 

If pared before cooking and all bad places removed, 
average potatoes will lose from twenty to twenty-five 
per cent, or one of the four potatoes in a pound. From 
selected potatoes the government experts scraped the 
skins, removing as little flesh of the potato as possible. 
This was about eleven per cent of the weight. In po- 
tatoes as usually purchased, the green ends, decayed 
places, and the potatoes gashed with the hoe easily 
bring the total loss up to the higher percentage. 

It may be a profitable loss to pare old and inferior 
potatoes before cooking. The main point to notice in 
the cooking of the potato is to let out the steam, or to 



Beans 



Potatoes 



Loss in 
Preparing 



90 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Potatoes 
with Meat 



Combinations 



Cooking 
Vegetables 



pour off the water as soon as the fibre and starch are 
softened. 

Because the potato is lacking in protein and fat, the 
instinct of man has taught him to eat it with meat, 
since it gave him the food principles the meat lacked, 
and also the bulk desirable for the process of diges- 
tion. 

The art of the cook has devised many methods of 
combining butter, oil, milk and eggs with the potato 
and other vegetables to supply protein and fat. The 
fried potato absorbs fat while cooking ; the white sauce 
of creamed potato adds both fat and protein ; a potato 
soup is creamed potato' with more milk ; the potato 
croquette contains egg and is cooked in fat; a potato 
salad has oil and often eggs. 

Such additions, though increasing the cost of the 
food,, make the result equivalent to vegetables with a 
moderate allowance of meat. Hence vegetable souf- 
flees, or croquettes, may be served when the meat sup- 
ply is limited. 

Almost any vegetable, by due combination with 
milk, butter, and eggs may appear as soup, fritters, 
croquettes, soufflees, or salads. For these complicated 
dishes, it is essential that the vegetable first shall be 
perfectly cooked in a simple fashion. 

The methods of cookery applied to vegetables are 
similar to those used for meat, but must be adapted 
to the composition and condition of the individual 
specimen. 



VEGETABLES. 91 

It is impossible to give the exact time for cooking 
any variety of vegetable, for every sample will differ. 
They are unpalatable when underdone and also at the 
other extreme. 

There is usually some way of cooking best for each 
vegetable, but if one kind only is available it is neces- 
sary to serve it in a variety of ways. This, perhaps, 
explains why the average cook book gives more re- 
ceipes for the potato' than for all other vegetables. 
Suitable utensils are essential ; vegetables should not 
be cooked in iron kettles when others are attainable ; 
strainers, mashers, cutters, ricers and presses are de- 
sirable. 

Strong flavors frequently are due to careless prep- preparation 
aration. Careful trimming and thorough washing are 
essential. Wilted vegetables are improved, as has been 
said, by soaking. Salad plants need especial care in 
washing to remove parasites and insecticides. 

Any portion of a root or tuber grown above ground 
becomes green and strong flavored and will impart 
its flavor to other portions with which it may be 
cooked. A decayed bit, or the scorching where the 
water evaporates, may often ruin the flavor of all. 

Young, tender, well flavored vegetables should be 
cooked and served in the simplest manner. Inferior 
specimens, like tough asparagus or celery which has 
lost its crispness, by boiling, straining, and flavoring 
may be made into palatable soup when they would be 
worthless under simple treatment. 



Vegetable 
Soups 



92 ' PRINCIPLES OF COOKER?. 

Vegetable soups are of two types; — for one, the 
vegetables are cooked till tender, cut in convenient 
bits and added to a meat stock. For the other, by long 
cooking in water a single vegetable or several together 
are made into stock, and all that is soft enough is 
rubbed through a strainer and then put with about an 
equal quantity, according to the strength of each, of 




TOMATO JELLY WITH BEETS. 



Preparation 

and 

Digestibility- 



meat stock or thin white sauce. Thick, pulpy stock, 
like that from peas, beans, or potatoes, needs a much 
thinner sauce than would celery or asparagus. Un- 
less some thickening of flour is used, the solider por- 
tions will settle, leaving the soup watery on top. 

In one of the publications of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture the difference in digestibility 
of the same food cooked in various ways is thus stated : 
Whole peas soaked and cooked, 60 per cent digested; 



VEGETABLES. 



93 



peas cooked a long time and strained, 82.5 per cent ; 
pea flour cooked with milk, butter and eggs, 92 per 
cent. This would seem to prove that the portion of 
vegetable food considered undigestible can be reduced 
by right methods of cooking. 

Mashing is a form of preparation suited to squash, 
turnip, parsnip, and potatoes. A seasoning of cream, 



Mashing 




INDIVIDUAL APPLE AND CELERY SALAD. 

or butter, and salt and pepper, is usually added. Frit- 
ters and croquettes usually have mashed vegetables 
as their foundation, or small bits are mixed with a 
thick cr e am sauce. 

The white sauce is a useful additon to vegetables 
since it increases their nutritive value and modifies 
strong flavors. Almost any cooked vegetables may 
thus be "creamed" or "scalloped" by adding both the 
sauce and buttered crumbs and baking. This is an ex- 
cellent way to reheat something left from a previous 
day. 



Creamed 
Vegetable* 



94 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

salads Salad is a term belonging especially to a class of 

uncooked vegetables and in all cases implies a vegeta- 
ble foundation though meats or fish may be added. 
The dressing of oil and vinegar is likewise of vegeta- 
ble origin. 

Here is another of our attempts to bring together 
the five food principles in a single compound. Water 
and mineral matter, protein, fat, and carbohydrate are 
usually blended in fairly balanced proportions. This is 
especially true of salads containing eggs, fish, or meat 
and eaten with bread. 

GRAINS 

The grains or cereals are the main dependence of the 
human race for food and have been known from very 
early times. Some member of this family of plants 
is found in every section of the world. Rice, wheat 
and corn are most largely used as food, while oats, rye, 
barley, and millet follow closely. Animals can eat these 
grains or grasses as they grow. For the human stom- 
ach the coarser portions must be removed. All are 
similar in composition, being from two-thirds to three- 
fourths starch. The protein ranges from 7 to 15 per 
cent ; fat varies from 1 to 10 per cent ; there is about 
1 per cent mineral matter and 10 to 12 per cent of 
water. 
Addition Before we can eat and digest such foods a large 

amount of water must be combined with them. Analy- 
ses have shown that the percentage of water in mushes, 



GRAINS. 



95 



boiled rice, macaroni, and mashed potato is nearly the 
same. 

When we buy cereals in paper packages we pay a 
little more for them than when they are bought in 
bulk, but that is a convenient, clean form in which to 
keep them. All cereals should be looked over before 
cooking since they are liable to' attacks from insects. 




A Cup of Corn Meal, and the Amount of Mush It Will Make. 



To make mushes start with the desired proportion of 
liquid, as that regulates the final amount. If too much 
water is used it can seldom be drained off, as it might 
be from potatoes, and if there is too little at the begin- 
ning it is practically impossible to add more without 
making the mush lumpy and pasty. A double boiler, 
a dish set in a steamer or a covered pail in a kettle of 
water, are the utensils suitable for cooking mushes. 



g6 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

cooking The coarser the grain, the more water required, and 

cereals t j ie i on g- er w iu k e the time of cooking. Whole grains 
are improved by soaking in cold water, finely ground 
preparations must be mixed with cold water to pre- 
vent the formation of lumps. All others should be put 
into boiling water. Add one teaspoonful of salt to each 
quart of water. Ordinary oatmeal and granulated 
wheat need four times their bulk of water, cracked 
wheat and hominy require more. The rolled grains re- 
quire but twice their bulk of water. 

The cooking at first should be rapid and the upper 
part of the double boiler should be placed directly on 
the stove for five minutes. Then put it over the other 
part, cook closely covered and do' not stir. Such foods 
are not injured by cooking for a longer time than the 
usual directions allow. Coarse hominy, oatmeal, or 
cracked wheat for breakfast should be cooked several 
hours the previous day. 

ni Ce Rice may be boiled in a quantity of water which is 

afterwards drained off, but this is wasteful unless some 
use is made of the liquid. 

Macaroni and tapioca are not strictly cereals but con- 
form to the same rules of cooking. 

Most mushes or cooked cereals may be moulded and 
served cold for variety, especially in warm weather, or 
be packed smoothly in oblong pans or round tin boxes 
and when cold sliced and fried to serve with syrups or 
to eat with meats. 



Tried 
Mush 



GRAINS. 97 

A portion of cooked cereal may be added to the 
liquid used in mixing muffins. 

Manufacturers of the present day seem to be trying 
to see in how many different forms they can prepare 
the few standard grains ; they are left whole, are 
cracked, are crushed into flakes, or broken into gran- 
ules. As the result of this variety of preparations' and 




Cereals shaped in Taney Moulds. 

the generous way in which they are advertised cereals 
are used more and more. 

During the last few years they have been cooked in 

. "Ready 

the factories and prepared in forms ready for immedi- to Eat > 

11 / Cereals 

ate use. These forms have many merits though not 
all that are claimed for them. In some respects they 
resemble the primitive forms of unleavened bread 
which were the first attempts among all races, the 
bannock, the hoe cake, the tortilla. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

PART II. 



Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Do not copy answers from the 
lesson paper. Use your own words, so that the instructor 
may know that you understand the subject. Read the les- 
son paper a number of times before attempting - to answer 
the questions. 

1. In what ways are eggs used in cookery? 

2. What substances are naturally combined with 

eggs and milk, and why? 

3. What is the fundamental principle in cooking arti- 

cles containing a large proportion of egg? 

4. Mention five dishes where egg is an essential in- 

gredient, and five others where it may be used 
or omitted. Explain why. 

5. If we find it necessary to reduce the number of 

eggs in a cake or custard, what other changes 
would be necessary ? 

6. Make a two days' menu for the season when eggs 

are at the lowest price, and two days' menu 
for the season when they are expensive. 

7. Which forms of animal food are the most ex- 

pensive and why ? 

Which most economical and why? 

8. What portions of meat are best for soup stock? 

What should be discarded ? Describe the proc- 
ess of making soup. Has the extracted meat 
nutritive value? 



- PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

9. Why is less fat absorbed by food in frying in 
deep fat than in sautering? 

10. Give methods of preparing tough meat so that it 

is palatable and nutritious. 

11. Give the names of soups which have (a) little, 

(b) much, and (c) great nutritive value. 

12. Why do we add stuffing and sauce to meats and 

fish? 

13. What is the greatest obstacle to be overcome in 

cooking vegetables? 

14. Give methods for cooking fish. What is the 

proper appearance of a fresh fish? 

15. Plan a rotation of different cereals for five break- 

fasts in winter and five in summer, giving rea- 
sons for your choice. 

16. How may different methods of preparing a veg- 

etable change its nutritive value? 

17. Describe your own method of roasting meat. 

18. Give the names of the vegetables and grains used 

in your household. Name some that are not 
used. 

19. Is there any question you wish to ask or subject 

you would like to discuss relating to this les- 
son ? 

Note. — After completing the test, sign your full name. . 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKING 

PART III 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

PART III 



BREAD AND OTHER DOUGHS 

Having considered the whole grains we must learn 
how to use them when ground into flour. Although 
some forms of bread like hoe cake and tortillas can be 
made from cracked grain without making it into a 
flour, most people depend upon flour for a large part of 
their daily food. 

In the best cook books the ingredients are mentioned 
in the order in which they are to be put together to 
secure the best results and to save dishes ; the dry cups 
and spoons are used for the flour and spices, then for 
the shortening and liquids. The flour is sifted before 
measuring and sifted again to mix the other materials 
with it. 

There is such variation in flours that it is impossible 
to give exact recipes for doughs, but it is easy to learn 
certain general proportions and experience must teach 
the rest. A simple formula will be helpful in inter- 
preting old recipes in which the exact quantities of 
flour or liquid are not stated, or in analyzing recipes to 
decide whether they are doughs or batters. 

One measure of flour to one of liquid makes a bat- 
ter. 

Two measures of flour to one of liquid gives the 
usual muffin mixture. 



Order of 

Mixing 
Ingredients 



General 
Proportions 
in Doughs 



too ' PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

Three measures of flour to one of liquid makes a 
soft dough, but one that may be kneaded. 

Four measures of flour to one of liquid is the usual 
proportion for doughs to be rolled thin like pastry or 
cookies. 

Batters and muffins can be stirred with a spoon. 
Doughs are mixed more thoroughly and easily with a 
knife. 

Doughs are made light because thus they are more 
palatable and digestible. 
Making: The almost endless variety of breads, cake, and pas- 

Light try may be classified according to the means used to 
make them light. Yeast has been known to the human 
race from a very early period, the others are much 
later inventions. 

The principal means are these : 

The. mechanical introduction of air, as by beating 
or by the addition of eggs or by the folding of pastry, 
or in the aerated or Daughlish bread. 

The use of yeast, the growth of a plant filling the 
dough with gas. 

The chemical combination of a bi-carbonate of soda, 
with some acid substance. 
Yeast F° r practical use in every-day life it is essential 

to remember that yeast must be treated like other forms 
of plant life and if we want it to grow, we must pro- 
vide the right kind of soil, sufficient moisture, and suit- 
able temperature. After its work is done, the vitality 
of the yeast must be destroyed by heat. 



BREAD. lot 

It may be desirable to know how to manufacture 
yeast at home and how to utilize the dried yeast cakes 
in emergencies, though compressed yeast cakes are now 
so generally used that it is hardly necesary. A com- 
pressed yeast cake should be firm and solid, not soft 
and past)- ; it should look something like fresh cheese, 
not dark colored and moldy. When only part of a 




USEFUL UTENSILS. 

yeast cake is to be used, it should be cut off squarely 
and the remainder wrapped smoothly in tin foil again, 
when it may be kept a few days longer. 

BREAD 

The essential ingredients in bread making are yeast, 
liquid, and flour ; the proportions may be varied ac- 
cording to conditons. 

Sugar and shortening are commonly used, but if 
they were omitted wholly it would be possible to have 
palatable, nutritious bread. Salt is essential to suit the 
taste of most persons, but as bread is usually combined 



Yeast 
Cakes 



102 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Causes of 
Slow Rising 



Kinds of 
Flour 



with salted butter its absence would be less noticeable, 
and bread might be made without it. Fermentation is- 
hindered by the presence of salt, a small amount of 
sugar hastens the process. 

Sugar in large quantities makes the dough dense and 
the yeast cannot expand so readily. An excess of short- 
ening has much the same effect. If a dough is made 
stiff with flour it rises more slowly. A stiff dough 
usually has small air cells and is finer grained than 
when the dough is made softer. 

The liquid may be milk, whole or skimmed, or water, 
or half of each. The milk supplies some sugar, fat and 
nitrogenous matter and produces a more nourishing 
loaf than that which is made with water. Mashed po- 
tatoes or sifted squash or cooked cereals are some- 
times added to a bread dough for variety, but the proc- 
ess is not changed by such additions. 

The best bread flour is made from spring wheat and 
pastry flour from winter wheat, though they may be 
used interchangeably if necessary. The spring wheat 
flour contains more gluten and less starch, so that less 
of the bread flour is required to produce a dough of a 
given consistency. 

The entire or whole wheat flours provide more bone 
making materials than white flour, otherwise there is 
little difference in the nutritive value of the better 
grades of each. 

The presence of gluten makes wheat the favorite 
flour for yeast dough, Gluten is adhesive when moist- 



BREAD. j 03 



ened and thus retains the gas bubbles formed by the 
yeast in somewhat the same way that egg-whites hold 
air when they are beaten. 

Old recipes for mixing yeast bread usually give di- order of 
rections for rubbing shortening into the flour and then 




Mixing 



"BREAD CAKE" OR BUN BREAD. 

adding the other ingredients with liquid to make a 
dough that can be kneaded. The best authorities to- 
day reverse the order, thus saving time and energy and 
producing a better result. 

The liquid is warmed that the fat, sugar, and salt Li(luid 
may readily blend with the other ingredients and that 
the dough may rise more rapidly. When it is below 
too F, or cool enough to avoir] cooking the yeasty 



Warmed 



104 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Double 

Process 

Bread 



Amount 
oi' \east 



Short 
Process 



is added and well mixed through the liquid. Sufficient 
flour then is mixed in to give the desired consistency 
for kneading. 

At first the mixture may be stirred with a spoon, but 
as it becomes stiffer a knife will more easily serve to 
produce a smooth dough. 

The process of mixing bread may illustrate the bat- 
ter and drop batter or muffin mixture as well as the 
dough. To make a sponge, half the quantity of flour to 
be used is mixed with the liquid and this allowed to 
rise till foamy, when the remainder of the flour is add- 
ed. The advantages of this double process are that a 
trifle less flour is required since the first has time to 
expand before the second is put in, and that the process 
is somewhat shortened because in the first stage there 
is less resistance for the yeast to overcome and the 
whole sponge becomes full of yeast for the second 
stage. 

Sometimes it is more convenient to use a small por- 
tion of yeast and allow the dough to rise for a longer 
time, and again to use more yeast and thus do the work 
more quickly. Until the scientists decide which is real- 
ly the better method, the- housekeeper will find it de- 
sirable to vary the quantity of yeast according to her 
conditions. Time, temperature, and quantity of yeast 
must be considered, — if one must be diminished, the 
others should be increased. 

For common use, a short process is to be preferred 
to the old custom of letting the dough rise oyer night, 



BREAD. 



105 



When it rises by day we can regulate the temperature 
and stop the process at the right time. One yeast cake 
to one pint of liquid and about three pints of flour, will 
make two medium-sized loaves of bread, which can be 
completed inside of six hours. 




BKEAD MAKING MACHINE. 



When necessary, a dough well risen and ready to 
shape may be cut down and put in a refrigerator or 
other cold place and thus held in check for several 
hours without injury. Sometimes half the bread may 
be shaped in a loaf and the remainder in rolls and the 
pans containing the latter set away in a cool place for 
several hours before baking that they may be hot for a 
later meal. 

When first mixed, dough is kneaded just enough to 
blend all ingredients, (hen it is put back in (he bowl, 



Holding 
Dough 
in Check 



Kising 



io6 



PRINCIPLES OP COOKERY. 



Kneading 



£haPi n § 



brushed over with water or with melted fat and cov- 
ered while it is rising. Such precautions aid in pre- 
venting the formation of a dry crust caused by the 
evaporation of the water on the surface during the 
process of rising. The bowl containing the dough 
may be set in a pan of warm water which is changed 
often enough to keep the temperature even. When the 
dough must stand over night in a cool kitchen, the 
bowl may be wrapped in a blanket to prevent the es- 
cape of heat. 

Much time is doubtless wasted in kneading doughs, 
though it seems to be agreed that this process works 
all ingredients together and thus give a better texture 
to the bread. To knead work the edges of the dough 
little by little toward the center, pull it over, press 
down into the mass and press it away with one hand 
while turning the whole around with the other. When 
the dough is smooth, elastic, and rises quickly when 
pressed and does not stick to the hand then it is done. 

After the dough is double in bulk it should be 
kneaded enough to redistribute the air bubbles which 
have run together and formed larger ones, and to 
shape it for baking. At this stage no flour should be 
added, for here much time would be required to work 
in a little flour, and that is why long kneading has 
been thought necessary. Dip the fingers in soft fat if 
the dough inclines to stick, as one would do when pull- 
ing candy. 

Tg §hape biscuits or rolls, first make smooth round 



BREAD. 



107 



balls, then by gentle rolling and pressiire make the fin- 
ger rolls — then farther extend till the strips can be 
twisted or left as sticks for soup. Thus one form may 
be developed from another. 

When rolls are to be cut out and folded, the pressure 
of the rolling pin will equalize the air bubbles without 
previous kneading. Instead of making the dough for 
rolls rich with butter or lard, it is wiser to brush over 
the outside of the rolls with melted fat when they are 
put in the pan. 




BUNS— SEPARATE AND IN LOAF. 



Again the dough must be allowed to double in bulk 
and then it is ready to bake. 

To summarize the points alreadycovered. — The time 
required depends upon the quantity of yeast used, and 
the temperature at which the dough is kept. One 
measure of liquid to three of flour is the usual propor- 
tion. For fancy breads make a sponge first, and let 
the mixture rise three times. Large quantities of sugar 
and butter tend to retard the growth of the yeast plant. 
For bread add all the flour at once, Small shape? are 



Summary 



io8 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Baking 
of Bread 



Cooking Soda 
with Acids 



preferable to large ones, as thus more thorough cook- 
ing is insured. 

The baking of bread is not easily disposed of in a 
few words. Yeast doughs having risen before being 
put in the -oven will bear rather a higher degree of heat 
at first than other doughs. A more moderate oven 
is required for loaves than for rolls that the heat 
may penetrate evenly, but the loaf must remain a suf- 
ficient time to raise the center to a degree of heat that 
will insure the destruction of the yeast. A moderate 
temperature might allow the dough to continue rising 
and even to sour from the growth of bacteria when in 
the oven. 

When thoroughly baked, a loaf of bread will seem 
light and hollow and no steam will come from it to 
burn the hand as it is turned from the pan. 

The 'usual temperature for baking bread is about 
400 F, though a good result may be reached by a 
more moderate heat continued for a longer time. 

Experiment. Three or four glass tubes or common 
tumblers are all the apparatus needed for some prac- 
tical experiments which will make the use of these leav- 
ening agents much clearer than does the ordinary cook- 
book. Dissolve some soda in half a tumbler of water ; 
in another tumbler dissolve some cream of tartar, in 
a third have a little molasses ; in a fourth place some 
sour milk, and in a fifth some vinegar. 

Now put a part of the soda water into each of the 
other, glasses, stir well, and watch the result. Leave 



BREAD AND OTHER DOUGHS. 



109 



these till later to see how soon the gas escapes and 
that it cannot be revived. By tasting soda and cream 
of tartar we shall see that it is desirable to combine 
them in such proportions that each may neutralize the 
other. This is done in baking powders. 

In another glass dissolve some baking powder, first 
in cold and then in warm water to show that the gas 
escapes more rapidly at a high temperature. 




CORN BREAD. 



These experiments show us why we should sift 
cream of tartar and soda or baking powder with the 
flour instead of dissolving it in liquid. The gas which 
is to make the dough light begins to escape from the 
soda when it comes in contact with an acid liquid. 

Some baking powder manufacturers try to convince 
us that their product is so perfect that it is useless for 
the housekeeper to continue to keep soda and cream of 
tartar in her store closet. But much as we owe to their 
perfect methods' of grinding and sifting and combining 



Soda and 
Cream of 
Tartar 



no PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

these substances in the right proportions, there are 
times when we must use them separately. 

Angel cake, for example, requires the addition of 
cream of tartar to stiffen the egg-white which is its 
foundation. This aids in holding up the spongy mass 
until it is made firm by heat. In any case where there 
is a large proportion of egg-white a slight excess of 
cream of tartar is desirable. 
Molasses That molasses is acid in spite of its sweetness is evi- 

dent by testing it with a bit of soda. For this reason 
soda is added to molasses candy since if it is filled with 
air bubbles it will be more brittle. The acidity varies 
in different grades of molasses, and modern methods 
of manufacture and quick transportation give us a less 
acid product than that of the past. This explains why 
many of the recipes of our great-grandmothers called 
for such large quantities of soda in gingerbread, etc. 
In such recipes it is usually wise to reduce the quantity 
of soda and use a small amount of baking powder. 
Brown bread and all cakes and puddings containing 
molasses, because of its acidity, are usually more pal- 
atable if some soda is used to make them light instead 
of baking powder only. 

Butter contains so much buttermilk that, unless it is 

washed before using, a bit of soda is essential for all 

rich cakes and cookies which are to be kept for any 

length of time. 

sour Miik Because of the tendency to use an excess of soda 

and soda w j t ^ -^ ^ use £ sour m jjj, k as b een condemned. But 



BREAD AND OTHER DOUGHS. in 

thick, sour milk is- not very variable in acidity, and the 
use of one even teaspoon ful of soda with each pint of 
sour milk is safe. Soda is inexpensive and sour milk- 
is also, while cream of tartar and baking powder are 
costly. One half level teaspoon of soda is usually 
enough when one cup of molasses is used, as it is with 
one cup of sour milk. When it is more convenient to 




BOSTON BROWN BREAD. 

substitute sweet milk for sour, we retain the soda and 
add one slightly rounding teaspoonful of cream of tar- 
tar. . 

Baking powder contains some starch, but two or strength of 
three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder are equal in powder 
effect to one rounding teaspoonful of cream of tartar 
and the half level teaspoonful of soda. 

Just why some good old recipes recommend dissolv- 
ing soda in hot water before adding it to the other 
ingredients, or mixing it with hot molasses, is uncer- 
tain. Perhaps the housewives wanted to "see with 



ii2 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

their eyes" that action would result. Or the habit 
might have been the result of the impure quality of 
the alkaline substance. The "pearl ash," as saleratus 
was called, was not as finely pulverized as is the 'soda of 
today, and may not have been as thoroughly purified 
from other ash. Hot water would dissolve it quickly, 
any impurities would settle, and even if some gas es- 
caped enough was left to do the work of puffing up 
the dough. 

Mixing Such small quaniities relatively of soda, cream of 

powder tartar, and baking powder are used in a dough that it 

has been a question how they should be mixed with 

the other ingredients to secure the most perfect result. 

The dough should be light throughout, not here a solid 

streak, and there large bubbles. 

Some teachers of cookery have recommended sifting 
the one Or two teaspoon fuls of baking powder over a 
cake after it was mixed and beating thoroughly just 
before pouring into the pan in which it is to be baked. 
But as soon as the powder comes in contact with the 
moist surface of the dough some gas will be lost, and 
moreover, it is doubtful whether two teaspoonfuls of 
baking powder can be evenly mixed through a quart 
of cake batter without much beating which does not 
improve the quality of the cake at that stage and de- 
lays the baking. 

The accepted plan at present is to sift with the flour 
the baking powder or cream of tartar and soda or the 



BREAD AND OTHER DOUGHS. 113 

soda alone when it is to be used with some sour milk 
or molasses. 

The sooner the process is completed after the acid 
and soda meet each other the better. Therefore we 
keep all the materials dry until the last moment, then 
mix quickly and bake at once. 

Similar recipes are found in all cook books, and once 
the general proportions and the office of each ingre- 




General 
Directions 



RYE MUFFINS. 

client are learned, it is easy to make many variations. 
The process of mixing is practically the same in all 
cases. Prepare the fire and dishes for cooking, be- 
fore mixing any of the ingredients measure every- 
thing, sift all dry materials together, add liquids, mix 
all thoroughly, and cook immediately. 

Changes in the proportions of materials often lead 
to a change in the manner of mixing them. For ex- 
ample, when a small quantity of shortening is used in 
batters, it may be melted and beaten in, l>ut if a large 



Manner 
of Mixing 



n 4 PRINCIPLES OF COOKER?. 

proportion is required, it should be rubbed till creamy 
and blended with the sugar as for cake, or mixed into 
the Hour as in pastry making. For stiff doughs which 
are to be rolled, it is essential that the fat should be 
put in cold since even a small quantity, if warm, will 
tend to make the dough soft and sticky. We grease 
'Shortening" pans, griddles, etc., because fat prevents adhesion ; in 
the same way fat in a dough keeps the particles sepa- 
rate and makes it break apart readily, so that we call 
it "short" or "tender." Hence shortening is any form 
of fat that will accomplish such a result. To give like 
results, more shortening is required with bread flour 
high in gluten than with pastry flour low in gluten. 

Eggs in doughs, as in other cases, have the quality 
of making particles hold together, just the reverse of 
shortening. Any dough containing much &gg will be 
elastic and spongy, and if cooked too quickly will be 
tough. " Doughs to be made rich with butter, like 
pound cake, may be saved from heaviness by the use 
of eggs. 

PASTRY AND CAKE 

Shortcake and pastry are. illustrations of the use of 
much fat in doughs and the result is brittle and tender. 
Success in pastry-making depends more upon keeping 
the ingredients cold and handling the dough deftly 
than any special formula or order of mixing. When 
but a small amount of shortening is used, a small quan- 
tity of baking powder is helpful ; this, of course, is 
omitted in puff pastry, in which the weights of the 



PASTRY AXD CAKE. 115 

Hour and butter arc equal, and it is not essential in 
other cases. 

Few doughs require a smaller number of ingredients 
than pastry; flour, salt, shortening, and liquid are the 
essentials, and air is incorporated in the process of mix- 
ing. When the flour and shortening are warm they 
stick together so that less air is mixed into the dough. 



Pastry 




APPLE PIE IN DEEP PLATE. 

The process of rolling and folding is a device for catch- 
ing more air in the dough. This air, when heated, ex- 
pands and puffs the layers apart. The colder the air 
mixed in the dough the greater its expansion in baking. 
In cake-making a single, well proportioned formula 
may be made the basis for a great number of varieties. 
Therefore, it is essential that the fundamental princi- 
ples be understood, then the variations can be accom- 
plished easily. 



Cake 
Making 




116 



CAKE. 



117 



The principles underlying sponge cake were ex- 
plained in the section on eggs. The main points in 
such cakes, which contain no butter and are made light 
by eggs only, are to mix carefully that sufficient air 
may be entangled in the dough to make it light, and 
then to bake slowly but thoroughly. 

The shape in which cake is to be baked should de- 
cide the proportion of flour to be used. Layer cakes or 
small cakes require less flour than large loaves. This is 
probably because the small cake is stiffened more 
quickly by the heat, while the large mass must be 
stiffened with flour to hold up the air cells until the 
heat can penetrate the whole. Variations in cake are 
easily obtained through changes in flavoring ingredi- 
ents. To mix chocolate in the cake melt it and mix 
with the sugar and butter. Such a cake might have a 
white frosting flavored with vanilla. 

A cake flavored with almond may have a few shred- 
ded almonds sprinkled over the top just before the cake 
is put in the oven. Almond paste can be rubbed into 
the butter and . sugar in making cookies ; it is rather 
rich and heavy for a cake. Desiccated cocoanut, 
chopped nuts, raisins, currants, dates, citron, candied 
orange and lemon peel, singly or in various combina- 
tions, serve to give us many cakes from a single recipe. 

The ingredients mentioned for pastry are com- 
mon to all cakes as well, but further variety is gained 
by the addition of sweetening and seasoning. Air or 
gas to make the cake light is obtained by the use of 



Sponge 
Cake 



Flavoring 



Ingredients 



n8 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Sweetening 



beaten eggs and of baking powders, etc., as well as by 
creaming butter and beating the blended ingredients. 
The shortening for this class of dishes may be lard, 
dripping, nut oil, cottolene, butter, or cream, each hav-. 
*ing its own special characteristic. When these are 
known, combinations and substitutions are possible to 
adapt a given formula to the available materials. 

The range of sweetening is limited to sugar and mo- 
lasses, but the quantity to be used in a cake should be 




Relative 

Proportions 

in Cake 



SPONGE CAKE STUFFED WITH CREAM. 

reduced if a frosting or sweet filling is to be added 
later. 

When we consider the long list of spices and ex- 
tracts and fruits and nuts available for seasoning the 
cake, we can see how it is possible to make many va- 
rieties of the same cake. 

There is a certain relative proportion to be followed 
in the use of these ingredients which, once learned, 



COOKING OF DOUGHS. 



1IQ 



enable us to decide whether a recipe is reliable. In 
butter cakes there is usually less butter than sugar, 
and less sugar than flour. When baking powder is 
used less is required than would be necessary for a 
dough where there are no eggs. Thus two even tea- 
spoonfuls of baking powder is enough for three cups 
of flour for a cake in which three or four eggs are use. 
Some cooks use from one to two teaspoons of bak- 
ing powder for each cup of flour in all cases, forgetting 
that the eggs alone would make a cake quite light. 
When there is an excess of baking powder, the cake is 
liable to be coarse grained and will dry quickly. 

Dutch apple cake and cottage pudding are similar to 
the common muffin mixture in the proportions of flour, 
liquid, etc., but are made richer by increasing the quan- 
tity of fat and sugar. 

The ordinary doughnut mixture is not unlike a cot- 
tage pudding dough, with the addition of flour to make 
it stiff enough to roll easily. Or it is similar to the 
quick biscuit dough with the addition of sugar, egg, 
and spice. Because doughnuts are cooked in fat, less 
shortening is required than for most stiff doughs. 

Cooky doughs are more like pastry with the addi- 
tion of sugar, spice, and egg, and the same care should 
be given to keeping the dough cold in order to roll and 
cut it without adhering to the board. 

COOKING OF DOUGHS 
Doughs are steamed, baked in the oven, or on a grid- 
dle on top of the stove. Such mixtures of many differ- 



Cottage 
Pudding- 



Doughnuts 



Cookies 



120 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

ent ingredients are more difficult to cook than the sepa- 
rate substances of which they are composed, though 
heat affects each ingredient in combination much a.s it 
does singly. Sugar carmelizes and this aids in pro- 
ducing a golden brown color in the crust of anything 




AN ACCURATE OVEN THERMOMETER. 
Punch a hole in a common gas stove oven and insert thermometer, 
which will register to 600 degrees F, wrapped with asbestos and wire 
where it passes through the top. 

containing it. Since it burns readily, cakes and cookies 
are more liable to be scorched than unsweetened 
doughs. Flour browns when exposed to dry heat. 

Eggs cook at a low temperature. Butter melts, 
hence doughs containing much must contain more flour 
than those that have little or none. 



COOKING OF DOUGHS. 



The heat applied should conform to the way in 
which it affects the principal ingredients in any dough. 
Those containing many eggs need moderate heat, etc., 
etc. The size and shape of the article are also to be 
considered. In general, small thin portions require 
less time but will bear higher temperature than larger 
portions as with bread doughs. 

There are various tests for the heat of the oven. 
Oven thermometers are valuable aids, showing com- 
parative if not actual degree of heat. When a ther- 
mometer is inaccessible, a piece of white paper or a 
teaspoonful of flour if charred from a five minutes' 
stay in the oven indicate too great heat and other de- 
grees may be gauged accordingly. All parts of an 
oven are not equally hot and each housekeeper must 
study her own. 

The lower part of a gas oven is very hot because 
the full force of heat is below ; in the wood or coal 
range one side is usually hotter than the other because 
of the position of the firebox. 



Heat 
Kequired 



Temperature 
of the Oven 



Variety 



FORM AND FLAVORS 

Thus far we have studied the fundamental princi- 
ples 1 of cooking and have seen that some knowledge 
of the chemical composition of each food is necessary 
before we can secure the best result through the ap- 
plication of heat and moisture. But this is only the 
foundation of the art of cookery. 

The form in which our food is served may attract 
or repel, and the flavor may make it appetizing or the 
reverse. We must depend mainly for sustenance upon 
a few kinds of meat, vegetables, grains, and fruits, and 
unless variety were secured in some way we should 
quickly tire of them. 

Through the ingenuity of cooks of all times and 
countries, so many combinations have been devised, by 
changes in flavor and form, that some of our common 
foods might appear in different guise every day in the 
year. 

The multiplicity of formulas in our cook-books, even 
when well classified, are puzzling to the beginner who 
has not learned to> analyze each recipe and thus find the 
simple processes' of which it consists. 

What is generally termed "fancy" or "high-class" 
cookery cookery is merely the application of the simple proc- 
esses to' costly foods or a further complicated prepara- 
tion to foods which have first been cooked as perfectly 
as possible, according to the principles already out- 
lined. 

123 



'Fancy" 



FORM. 123 

For example, if we have learned how to make a creamed 
white sauce and how to cook meats and vegetables, we Di s he s 
do not require separate detailed recipes for creamed 
chicken, creamed oysters, creamed potatoes, creamed 
cauliflower, or creamed asparagus ; we only need to 
make the sauce a little thinner or thicker to offset the 




CREAMED FISU IN RAMEKINS. 

dry or watery nature of the article with which it is to 
be put and to vary the flavor slightly to adapt it to an- 
other material. 

Furthermore, any such creamed meat or vegetable variety 
may be served plain, or on toast, or in timbale cases, or in Servm * 
combined with buttered crumbs, as a "scallop," or by 
the addition of stiff egg whites it becomes a "souffle" 
when baked. When the sauce is made of double thick- 
ness, and combined with the meat or vegetable and 
chilled, the mass may be shaped into croquettes or cut- 



124 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Adaptation 



Principle 
of Contrast 



Made 
Dishes 



lets which are then coated with egg and crumbs and 
fried. 

Thus any intelligent woman knowing something of 
the nature of foods and the effect of heat and moisture 
may to some extent make her own recipes or adapt oth- 
ers to the supplies available at the moment. 

No cook-book can be sufficiently expanded to pro- 
vide for great variation in climate, food materials, and 
utensils. The cook must constantly adapt to her condi- 
tions, she must be observant of the changes of tem- 
perature and learn when one food material or flavor 
may be substituted for another. 

If uncertain about the wisest combination of ar- 
ticles of food, whether in a single dish or for the differ- 
ent courses in a menu, it is safe to follow the plan of 
contrast. Thus the cream soup is served with crisp 
crackers or croutons, the creamed fish is covered with 
buttered crumbs and baked till crisp, the croquettes 
are crisp outside and creamy within. 

Another point is to add to any food, substances sup- 
plying any of the food principles it lacks. Potatoes arc 
mashed with cream or butter because they lack fat, are 
blended with egg for croquettes or souffle because they 
lack protein. Eggs lack starch, so we serve them on 
toast or use them in puddings with rice, tapioca, etc. 

Composite preparations of food, often classed as en- 
trees or made dishes, are known by many names de- 
rived from different languages, especially from the 
French. 



FORM. 125 

Here is no place to attempt to define all the terms 

11 r . Names 

used on a menu card, but we may group some of these 
compound dishes under a few general heads and study 
their characteristics. 

Soups have as their basis either animal or vegetable S ou P s 
stock or both combined. Stock is secured by the aid of 
heat and moisture from portions of meat and vegeta- 
bles too tough to be used in other ways. Flavor and 
some nutriment are soaked, cooked and strained out, 
and this water is the stock which is then further fla- 
vored and garnished by the addition of some contrast- 
ing substance. Thus a meat stock is usually garnished 
with grains or shreds of vegetable, and a vegetable 
stock is often combined with milk and thickened. 

Stews are thick soups containing larger portions of stews 
the meat and vegetables. These are also known as 
chowders, ragouts, salmis, etc., etc. Sometimes a stew 
has dumplings steamed over it, sometimes it is cov- 
ered with a crust of pastry, mashed potatoes, or cooked 
cereal and baked as a pie. Here again are combined 
contrasting food principles. 

Hash is a term that also may include the assortment Hash 
of foods known as scallops, timbales, etc., since the 
substance giving a specific name to each of these is 
minced or chopped fine before it is combined with other 
materials. Meat and fish are put on toast or mixed 
with potatoes or bread crumbs or encased in rice or 
in a pastry shell. The exact proportions of the con- 



126 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Souffles 



Salads 



Left Overs 



trasting ingredients is of less importance than their 
proper moistening and flavoring. 

The scallop owes its name to the shell in which it is 
often served. Au gratni is another name for the same 
combination of a meat or vegetable with sauce and 
crumbs. The croquette gets its name from its crisp 
crust, the timbale from its thimble-like shape. Rissoles 
and kromeskies are kinds of fried meat pies or cro- 
quettes in a pastry crust. 

Souffles have as a foundation fruit or vegetable pulp 
or minced meat in a sauce and are puffed "up by the in- 
troduction of stiffly beaten egg whites. The name is 
sometimes given to cold dishes where a similar effect is 
gained by whipped cream. 

Salads may consist of cold cooked meats, fish, etc., 
vegetables cooked or raw, fruits and nuts. Almost any 
food may be served in a salad, singly or in combina- 
tion. The distinctive feature of a salad is the dressing 
of fat, oil, butter, or thick cream, which is variously 
flavored. 

Many of the most satisfactory of these made dishes 
doubtless had their origin in an effort to use left-overs. 

Milk surplus may be used in many ways. Skimmed 
milk answers as well as full milk for soups and doughs 
when fat is also used. Even if otherwise likely to 
curdle in heating, the addition of a little cooking soda 
makes it possible to scald milk, and then it may be used 
for custards, puddings, etc. Sour milk is available for 



FORM. 



12? 



doughs and cheese, and cream may be substituted for 
butter and milk in simpler cakes and cookies. 

Eggs left at the table in a soft-boiled condition may 
be cooked again until hard and then combined with 
sauces and served on toast or used as a garnish in 
soups or salads. 

Meat left-overs should be carefully sorted. 

The obloquy heaped upon hashes is due to careless- 
ness. All uneatable portions, — bone, skin, and gristle, 
should be removed, but may yield a little stock if put 
in cold water. The clear lean may have about one- 
fourth as much fat with it if it is to be used in the com- 
bination with potatoes, bread or cereal. There may be 
two grades of the lean, one cut in pieces of uniform 
shape an inch or more across, to be served in a sauce 
or moulded in a jelly ; the other to be chopped fine for 
hashes, croquettes, etc. 

Vegetables. Cooked vegetables spoil quickly but 
often may serve as soup, or a scallop, or a salad for a 
second meal. 

Fruits. It seems practically impossible to put to- 
gether several kinds of fruit without good results. 
Combinations of left-over fruits, raw or cooked, will 
serve as the basis of a gelatine dessert made like the 
jelly described elsewhere, or may be frozen alone, or 
combined with cream, or thickened for a pudding 
sauce, or diluted with water for a fruit punch. Add 
suear as desired. 



Meat 
Left Overs 



Fruit 
Combinations 



128 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Attractive 
Form 



Garnish 



Shapes 



Bread. No scrap of bread of any kind need be lost. 
Brown bread and muffins of different kinds are some- 
times wasted when they might be steamed, or toasted 
and served in cream sauce, or made into puddings like 
a baked Indian pudding. Slices of stale raised bread, 
dried, gives us croutons, cut in cubes, or crumbs white 
and brown, coarse and fine, to use for scalloped dishes, 
stuffing for fish and poultry, and for many kinds of 
sweet puddings. 

The use of gelatine is an instance of our endeavor 
to make foods attractive in form. It has doubtful food 
value and no> agreeable flavor, but it gives solidity to 
fruit juices, or in aspic jelly to soup stock, and in such 
jellies we may mould fruits for dessert, or meat and 
vegetables for salad. 

Garnish is often desirable to make foods more ap- 
petizing, but it is a question whether this purpose is 
served by the addition of unedible materials which 
must be laid one side before the food itself is accessible. 

The truest art does not waste effort on useless things. 

The form of foods is further varied by utensils pro- 
ducing different shapes, the meat choppers with ad- 
justable knives for particles of different sizes, the 
fancy 'knives for making thin slices or balls of vegeta- 
bles and fruits, the muffin pans, waffle iron, the timbale 
iron, the many cutters and moulds for puddings, etc., 
The tendency of the present day is plainly towards 
small portions for individual service, and here again a 



FORM. 



129 



new recipe is not required, only the necessary changes 
in time of cooking which would result when a mass was 
divided into several portions. Moulds in which a food 
is to be cooked should be greased, but rinsed with cold 
water when the food is only to be cooled in them. 

Scales and measures are lacking in many kitchens 
and accurate work is impossible without them. The 



Weighing 




SALMON LOAF. 



average kitchen need not be furnished with many 
special utensils, but there should be a full supply of 
"general purpose" articles of the best grade of mate- 
rial and finish. 

The utensils should be adapted to the size of the 
family and to the physical ability of those who are 
to use them. The saying of human life and energy 
is more to be considered than the durability of imple- 
ments. 



Preparation 



Right 
Heat 



Common 
Salt 



FLAVOR 

The art of cooking- shows us many ways of develop- 
ing - the appetizing flavor of foods. 

First, by the removal of whatever might produce bad 
flavors, such portions as skin and tainted bits of meat, 
decayed parts of vegetables, and over brown portions 
of bread and cake. 

Second, by the right application of heat and moisture 
to bring out the natural flavors in each food. The 
steeping of tea instead of boiling, the browning of the 
coffee berry and cocoa bean before they are ground, 
the flavor developed by long cooking in cases like the 
baking of beans and steaming of puddings and brown 
bread. Sometimes a portion of the nutritive value is 
sacrificed to flavor, as in the browning of the outer 
surface of the steak or roast. 

Third, by the use of many additional flavoring ma- 
terials to intensify natural flavors to supply deficiencies 
and to produce variety. 

Salt is useful as a preservative, seems to supply a 
need in the human system and therefore is an agreea- 
ble addition, but it also serves to bring out natural 
flavors. As an illustration of this power, taste of a 
meat or chicken broth that is unsalted, and again after 
salting, when the flavor of the meat will be much more 
apparent. For this purpose salt is often eaten with 
fruits, is added in minute quantities to lemon and other 
jellies made with gelatine, to custards, ice creams, and 
often even to coffee. 

130 



FLAVOR. 



131 



Lemon juice is also an aid in extending other flavor 
and is acceptable with many foods, especially fish. 

Salt, pepper, lemon, and onion are the extent of the 
flavors used in some households, and food need not be 
insipid if no others are tried, but it is wiser to make 
occasional use of the long list of condiments and 
spices. 

The distinction as usually made is that the condi- 
ments pepper, mustard, etc., are used with meats, 
while spices, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc., 
are associated with fruits and sweets, but this classi- 
fication has exceptions. Spices are neglected nowa- 
days and it often seems as if people hardly were ac- 
quainted with any other flavor for dessert dishes than 
vanilla. The list of flavoring herbs is a long one, run- 
ning through sage, thyme, majoram, summer savory, 
bay leaves, tarragon and parsley, which are used dry 
or fresh, to the green mint, cress, and salad plants 
which are condimental rather than nutritive. 

There are many compound flavors which every 
housekeeper should keep in her store closet, and use in 
her cooking instead of supplying a single perennial 
catsup on the table, such are curry, tabasco, tarragon 
vinegar, mushroom catsup, poultry seasoning, etc. 

Onion, celery, cheese, chocolate, coffee, meat ex- 
tracts, each may have an important place in our list of 
flavors. 

Sugar is an important food and also must be looked 
upon as a flavor, since it will often bring an insipid 
vegetable up to its normal condition. 



Common 
Flavoring- 
Material 



Condiments 
and Spices 



Sugar 

as Flavoring 



132 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Blended 
Flavors 



Adding 
Flavoring 



Reasons 

for the Use 

Of Flavoring 



French cooking excels in that blending of flavors 
which produces an agreeable effect, though no one is 
apparent. 

The best results are usually reached when the flavor- 
ing is combined with the food in the process of cook- 
ing, but there are right and wrong ways of doing this. 
If salt is put on the cut surface of a roast, juice will be 
drawn out, but if sprinkled over the fat will gradually 
flavor all. Whole herbs and spices, tied in a bit of 
cheese cloth may be left to cook in a soup stock or 
brown gravy until the desired flavor is attained and 
then withdrawn, leaving the stock clear. Ground spices 
would give a cloudy effect. 

The use of flavors is economic, for thus inexpensive 
foods are varied and made palatable. It is a part of 
the art of cooking, since nowhere are greater skill 
and intelligence required than in the distribution of 
these elusive yet powerful substances, and by discrim- 
ination in the use of condiments and spices our foods 
may be made more healthful. 



Buying 



FOOD FOR THE DAY 

In the preceding pages the most important foods, 
their composition and preparation for the table have 
been considered. Our study would be incomplete with- 
out some reference to their best combination for the 
daily meals that they may appeal to the palate and pro- 
mote health without exceeding the bounds of mod- 
erate incomes. 

There are three important divisions in the prepara- 
tion of food for a family, wise buying, good cooking, serving' 
and careful serving. When buying foods the house- 
keeper should know the sum available for feeding each 
person for the day or week, she must note the season 
of each food, and also adapt her choice to the climate 
and weather. She must remember the individual 
needs of each member of the household, depending 
upon age, health, and occupation. 

Tbe art of cookery finds its field between the . ; „ 

J Art of 

choice of food and the serving of the cooked dishes at cookery 
the table. As with other arts perfection can come 
only through constant practice in manipulation, and 
from continual adaptation of conditions to the desired 
end. No formulas for combinations of foods can be 
devised so complete that continuous care is not re- 
quired in every step of the process. 

m 



134 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



Cost of 
Food 



'Constants' 



Few housekeepers have the time or take the trouble 
to keep their accounts in such a way as to' know how 
much it costs 'to feed each person in their charge for 
a day, week, or month ; fewer still know anything of 
the relative proportion of protein, fat, and carbo- 
hydrate which is placed on the family table week by 
week. 

When purchasing clothing we take note of its wear- 
ing qualities and the ability to keep us warm, but we 
seldom apply the same reasoning to our foods, al- 
though it is quite as necessary. 

Some one has estimated that in the average house- 
hold one-tenth of the sum spent for food will go 1 for 
flour, a tenth for butter, another for sugar, another for 
milk, one-fifth for meat, one-fifth for fruit and vegeta- 
bles, and the remaining fifth for sundries. 

There are certain articles of which equal quantities 
will be used each week or month, and by an examina- 
tion of previous bills it is easy to estimate the amount 
required for a given period. Many of these "con- 
stants"' like butter, sugar, and flour, can be bought in 
quantities sufficient for a month, then the housekeeper 
knows how to apportion her money for the variable 
supplies. 

It is not necessary for the housekeeper to attempt 
to estimate the proportion of food principles in every 
dish she serves, but once a month or a quarter, if her 
amounts are well kept, she can see how nearly she ap- 



FOOD FOR A DAY. 135 

proaches such daily estimate as the one below for each 
member of her family : 

A DAY'S RATION 

Ounces. 

Meat and fish 12 to 16 

One egg 2 

Butter 1 to 2 

Milk, 1 gill to 1 pt 4 to 16 

Sugar 2 to 3 

Dry fruits 1 

Legumes 1 

Fresh vegetables and fruits 6 to 8 

Potatoes , 8 to 12 

Flour and grains 12 to 16 

Multiply this by thirty and we have a fair' allow- 
ance for one person for one month. Multiply this by 
the number of persons in the family, or, to be more 
accurate, by the fractional parts of a man's ra- 
tions, usually allowed for women and children, and 
we have an ample supply for one month for the fam- 
ily. 

If the larger quantity of potatoes has been used the 
smaller amount of flour would have been ample, while 
if eggs were cheap and two or more consumed by each 
person daily there should be a corresponding reduc- 
tion in the amount of meat and fish. 

Of the amount purchased there will be not far from Refuse 

and Waste 

10 per cent refuse and waste. Refuse in the form of 
bones, skin, and parings, waste of what is 1 left on in- 
dividual plates, and odd bits that are spoiled and are 



136 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 



A Day's 
Alowance 



Cost of 
Labor 



Prepared 
Food 



Buying 



thrown away. Much fat also is thrown away, but it 
should be remembered that fat is worth more than 
twice as much as the carbohydrates in keeping the body 
warm. 

Twenty-five cents a head a day is a fair allowance 
for an abundance and variety of wholesome, satisfying 
food. Life may be sustained on half that amount, while 
fifty cents daily cannot nourish more completely, but 
may provide luxuries and foods out of season. 

The actual cost of table board appears, from studies 
made under different conditions, to be about equally 
divided between the raw material and the labor re- 
quired for the preparation and service. It may be 
cheaper to' pay a little more for a prepared food than 
to use one's own strength or pay for service to get 
ready a less expensive article. 

The woman who has time and strength and no 
' other way to earn should choose the cheaper grade 
of food. Cheapness does not always indicate mean- 
ness, it may mean an abundant supply or less human 
labor in preparation. 

There is a growing tendency toward the fuller 
preparation of food outside the home, but there is the 
more need that the housekeeper should be familiar 
with processes of manufacture that she may know 
when she is well served. 

The housekeeper who never goes to grocery and 
market and does not study the market reports in the 



Planning 



FOOD FOR A DAY. 137 

papers is rarely an economical buyer. She is liable 
to go on in the same old routine instead of varying her 
menus with the litae surorises that may be found by 
visiting the markets. There are bargains to be had in 
foods as well as in clothing, when the market is over- 
stocked, or some odd lot is left over. Cuts of meat 
cannot be made to order and the first choice falls to 
the early visitor to the market. 

Where one woman must take entire care of a fam- 
ily, she must plan carefully if she would have a well 
balanced household. Elaborate cooking and meals of 
many courses are out of the question even if they were 
desirable. Meals should be planned several days in 
advance and the buying done accordingly, though such 
plans will be much modified in the performance. 

A reserve store of canned foods, etc., is a great aid 
in the emergencies that arise in all households. 

By wise use of outside supplies and by making one's system 
head do more work and hands and feet less, the food 
for a family may be provided without exhausting the 
energy of the housekeeper. 

The actual cooking necessary for a family through 
a day may be done in a shorter period than is usually 
allotted to it if the work is planned wisely.- The de- 
tail of arrangement depends upon the kind of fuel 
used, and whether the chief meal is served at noon or 
night. 



138 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

The breakfast should be a simple meal — fruit, raw 
or cooked, cereal or warm muffins, (seldom both at 
the same meal), and eggs, bacon, creamed salt fish or 
some cold meat. When -the meat is cold the bread is 
warm, while with bacon or omelet toast may be served. 

Some one must be in the kitchen for some time to 
prepare and serve even a simple breakfast, especially 
if there are tardy members of the family. With the 
same supply of fuel required for the muffins, it is not 
difficult for a woman of average ability to bake a cake 
or pudding which will then be ready for the noon or 
the night meal. Or at this time the vegetables may be 
cleaned, fruit picked over and little details attended 
to which save much time later. 

Noon dinners usually are considered easier for 
housekeeper and cook, since the work can all be done 
by daylight and the hours of work if not actually less 
are not so extended through the day. When supplies 
are ordered early and delivered promptly, much energy 
and worry is saved. At least half the time the soup 
may be derived from previous supplies, and be pre- 
pared in advance. 

One kind o<f meat or fish, potatoes or rice and a 
single other vegetable or salad are enough for all 
ordinary occasions. Fruit or a dessert prepared earlier 
in the day completes a meal sufficient for all needs of 
the human body if the articles have been chosen wisely 
to supplement each other. 



FOOD FOR A DAY. 



139 



For a noon luncheon or night supper there are many 
variations of the souffles, hashes and scallops already 
described. One of these with bread and butter, tea or 
cocoa, fruit and a simple sweet will provide all that is 
essential. 

To prepare meals for a family year in and out 
is not an easy task. The housekeeper must remember 
not only the cost and nutritive value of the foods but 
the whims and notions of her family. The ability of 
the human being to talk makes him much harder to 
feed than the animals who must accept the balanced 
ration bestowed upon them. 

A few points to be observed in planning menus are 
these : avoid routine, introduce novelties, cheap or ex- 
pensive, in attractive form, but say little of nutritive 
value or cost. Do not allow the same meat or fish to 
appear too many meals in succession. Let some- 
thing else intervene. When the meat course is sub- 
stantial let the dessert be light and make the dessert 
especially nutritious when the meat course is insuf- 
ficient. Let there be variety on the table through the 
week or month but have few dishes at each meal. 

The fundamental processes of cookery are not many 
and the essential points have been outlined in these 
pages. An intelligent woman can adapt the recipes in 
any reliable cook-book to her own conditions after she 
knows something of the composition of foods and the. 
way each is affected by heat and moisture, 



Supper 



Planning 
Menus 



In 
Conclusion 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Boston Cooking School Cook Book ($2.00). Fannie M. Farmer. 

Boston Cook Book ($2.00). Mary J. Lincoln. 

Catering for Two ($1.25). Alice J. James. 

Century Cook Book ($2.00). Mary Roland. 

Home Science Cook Book ($1.00). Anna Barrows and Mary 

J. Lincoln. 
Kitchen Companion*($2.50). Maria Parloa. 
Practical Cooking and Serving ($2.00). Janet M. Hill. 
Practical Sanitary and Economic Cooking ($0.40). M. H. Abel. 
Young Housekeeper ($1.00). Maria Parloa. 
Rorer's (Mrs.) New Cook Book ($2.00). Mrs. S. T. Rorer. 
Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking ($1.00). Helen 

Campbell. 
Hostess of To-day ($1.50). Linda Hull Larned. 
Luncheons ($1.40). Mary Roland. 

Note. — These books may be borrowed by Members. Any one may pur- 
chase them through the School by sending price. 

GOVERNMENT BULLETINS 

Free, of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

34. Meats: Composition and Cooking — Charles D. Woods. 

85. Fish as Food— C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

93. Sugar as Food— Mary Hinman Abel. 

121. Beans, Peas and other Legumes as Food — M. H. Abel. 

128. Eggs and their uses as Foods — C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

182. Poultry as Food— Helen W. Atwater. 

183. Meat on the Farm — Andrew Boss. 

203. Canned Fruits, Preserves and Jellies — Parloa. 

249. Cereal Breakfast Foods— Woods and Snyder. 

256. Preparation of Vegetables for the Table — Parloa. 

263. Use of Milk as Food— R. S. Milner. 

293. Use of Fruits as Food — C. F. Langworthy. 

295. Potato and other Root Crops as Food — Langworthy. 

298. Food Value of Corn and Corn Products. 

332. Nuts and their use as Food — M. E. Jaffa. 

359. Canning Vegetables in the Home — J. F. Breazeale. 

375. Care of Food in the Home — Mary Hinman Abel. 

389. Bread and Bread Making — Helen W. Atwater. 

391. Economical use of Meats in the Home — Hunt, 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

PART III. 



Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Do not copy answers from 
the lesson paper. Use your own words, so that the instruc- 
tor may know that you understand the subject. Read the 
lesson paper a number of times before attempting to 
answer the questions. 



1. Mention and describe three methods of making- 

doughs light. 

2. What are the advantages in the use of baking 

powder? When should baking soda and cream 
of tartar be used separately? 

3. Describe some mixture where more than one 

means of making it light is used. 

4. How does the bread obtainable outside your home 

compare with what you can produce there as 
to cost, including time and fuel, substance, and 
palatability ? 

5. Experiment, if you can, under your own condi- 

tions and report of the effect of too rapid and 
too slow baking on different types of dough. 

6. Rearrange this recipe for a simple cake in proper 

proportions and order of mixing : y 2 egg, 2 
teaspoonfuls butter, 2 c. milk, I c. flavoring, I 
teasp. flour, 3 c. baking powder, 1 teasp. sugar. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY. 

7. Give examples wherein the form and manner of 

serving" may add to the attractiveness of food 
and not require too much time. 

8. How does bread flour differ from pastry flour? 

How does this affect its use in doughs ? 

9. Give the general proportion of flour and liquid 

in (1) soft doughs, (2) a batter, (3) muffin. 

mixtures, (4) pastry or cookies. 
10. Why does shortening make doughs flaky? 
T T. Give the one method of making bread. What 

conditions will hasten the process ; what will 

retard the process? 
_, Successful pastry — how made? 

13. What varieties of cake are there and what ai 

the general proportion of the ingredients ? Give 
some of the reasons why a cake "falls ?" What 
makes cake dry and coarse in texture? 

14. Discuss the use and abuse of "fancy cookery." 

15. What is meant by contrast in foods? Give ex- 

amples. 

16. What can you say of flavoring? 

17. How mav "left-overs" of meat — of vegetables — 

of bread, be used? 

18. On what principle should menus be planned? 

19. Give the menus for the meals served in your 

household during one week and suggest how 
they might be improved without additional la- 
bor or expense. 



PRINCIPLES OP COOKERY. 

20. With what cook book are most familiar? What 

are its good points and what are its de- 
ficiencies ? 

21. Have you had any failures in cookery which 

you cannot understand and which you would 
like to have explained ? 

22. What new facts and principles have you learned 

from this series of lessons? 

Note. — After completing the test, sign your full name. 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKING 



PART IV 
SUPPLEMENT 




'5 .22 



£0 o 



SUPPLEMENT 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

IN 

APPLICATION TO DAILY LIFE 

By Anna Barrows 

Director, Chautatiqua School of Cookery; Lecturer, Teachers, 
College, Columbia University, and Simmons College. 

The conditions of life in the households represented 
by the pupils of this school vary greatly with locality 
and climate, and, taken together, would give a fine 
composite picture of the average American home. 

While reading the hundreds of papers which have 
passed through my hands since the School opened, 
nothing has impressed me more than the variety of 
conditions to which any woman in this country 
must be ready to adjust herself at short notice. 
Much human energy might be set free for other pur- 
poses, and much money saved, if men and women 
gave closer study to some of these every-day questions. 

Emerson has said truly : " We must learn the homely 
laws of .fire and water; we must feed, wash, plant, 
build. These are the ends of necessity, and first 
in the order of nature. Poverty, frost, famine, 
disease, debt, are the beadles and guardsmen that 
hold us to common sense." 

COMPARATIVE VALUE OF FUELS 

Every householder and housekeeper should have 
more definite knowledge regarding the amount of 
heat available from a given bulk of each of the stand - 

"47 



148 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

ard fuels. One cord of wood is approximately equal 
to one -half ton of coal; 1,000 cubic feet of coal-gas 
is equal to 50 or 60 pounds of coal, or about four and 
one-half gallons of oil or gasoline. The time re- 
quired to keep stove and fire in good condition must 
be counted with the cost of the fuel. 

In this connection, facts reported in some of the 
test papers received are interesting. 

From a southern plantation, wood is reported as 
costing only the labor of preparation for the stove, 
and that only sixty cents a cord. In another locality, 
one sixteenth of a cord of wood is used daily at a cost 
of twelve cents, or about two dollars a cord. Else- 
where, a housekeeper finds wood at five dollars a 
cord the cheapest fuel within her reach, and estimates 
her daily supply to cost ten cents, or about one fiftieth 
of a cord. Another burns a cord of wood each week 
for cooking only. 

An English pupil writes: "The range to which I 
am most accustomed is the almost universal farm- 
house open fireplace and Glendenning oven, used in 
Cumberland and Westmoreland. The oven is heated 
by the hot air from the fire by a passage at the back 
of the fireplace, with only one damper for oven. At 
the opposite side there is nearly always what is called 
here a 'set-pot' for heating water. The heat of 
my oven is greatest at the bottom, on account of the 
hot air being underneath. What is not cooked in 
the oven is done over the open fire." 



FUELS 149 

COAL 

The price of coal varies according to quality and 
distance from the mines, and may cost from three to 
twelve dollars a ton. A hodful or scuttle of coal 
may weigh from fifteen to thirty pounds, but after 
weighing the contents of an average hod, any house- 
keeper may estimate readily the amount used daily, 
or for different purposes. 

One woman writes that she can do her day's work 
with a single hodful of coal, making a ton last nearly 
three months, while a maid in her kitchen usually 
disposes of a ton a month. Another housekeeper 
runs a fire day and night on half a ton a month, 
while in a colder region three hods daily is the usual 
winter allowance. 



Gas is available in comparatively few sections of 
the country outside of the large cities, but wherever 
it is used, housekeepers soon learn to plan their cook- 
ery to save fuel. This usually results in economy 
of time, so that fewer hours arc spent in the kitchen, 
though all the necessary work is as well done as 
before. 

A thousand feet of gas a week is a generous allow- 
ance for kitchen use in an average family. Accord- 
ing to one report, gas at $1.50 a thousand feet has 
proved cheaper than coal at $5.00 a ton. 

One cannot use a gas range in the same fashion as 
the wood or coal stove, but must adapt herself to its 



150 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

plan and the nature of the fuel. A steam cooker 
makes it possible to cook enough food for two days 
over one burner at one time. Today's dinner, a 
cereal for tomorrow's breakfast, some cup custards 
for supper, a stuffed fowl to be browned over in the 
oven for tomorrow's dinner, all may be cooking at 
once. 

Then, with the ovens as commonly arranged, we 
may broil or roast beneath the flame which is heating 
the other oven to bake potatoes, bread or cake. 

One pupil reports that she boils potatoes in the 
lower part of the double boiler while cooking cereal 
for the next day, and above that sets a basin of milk 
to heat for a pudding or sauce or soup. By such 
forethought the expense of gas is no greater than 
any other fuel, and the labor of housework is much 
reduced. 



The removal of the tax on fuel alcohol, January, 
1907, may mean much to the housekeeper as well as 
to the manufacturer. Every one who has used a 
chafing dish or alcohol lamp has wished that alcohol 
was as cheap as kerosene. Under the new law it 
may reach that point. 

Since it may be made of many coarse and inferior 
vegetable products now unused, there need be no 
lack of this fuel, which is practically without odor or 
smoke. 

Thus the housekeeper must be ready to adapt her- 



FUELS 151 

self to another change in fuels and apparatus for its 
use. 

With the alcohol lamp and the hay-box much of 
the discomfort and dirt now associated with kitchen 
processes will be banished, never to return, and the 
kitchen itself well may be dignified with the name of 
"laboratory." 

KEROSENE 

The small oil and gasoline stoves are not used as 
much as they deserve. With intelligent care and 
high-grade oil, a well-made oil stove is safe. Fire in 
any form is not a plaything. 

Every household without gas or electricity should 
be supplied with a good three-burner lamp stove and 
small oven to fit it. These will cost about $3 .00. If 
this lamp is given the same care that is given lamps 
for evening use, results will be satisfactory. But 
one must not expect a small stove to work as rapidly 
or accomplish as much as a larger one. Have the 
lamp full of oil to do good work. Do not let it burn 
many hours in succession, but give it a chance to 
cool off. Keep the wicks even and clean, and have 
new ones when they become discolored, or too short 
to reach the bottom of the lamp. 

Oil stoves are liable to smoke if they stand in a 
draft, and therefore should be protected. Choose 
utensils to fit the stove and oven, and never fill them 
so full that there is danger of boiling over into the 
lamp. Since the heat is greatest in the lower part of 



152 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

the oven, cook on the upper shelf as much as possible, 
or exchange when possible. Asbestos mats may be 
used on the lower shelves. With two three-burner 
lamp stoves, and an oven to fit one, it has been easy 
several times, in my own experience, to do all the 
cooking for a family of six or eight persons. 

FIRELESS COOKERS 

The Norwegian Cooking Box or Fireless Cook 
Stove is described and illustrated on pages 12-13. 
This device has been exploited so much of late that 
it deserves further description. 

The new interest in this method of cooking is prob- 
ably due to the experiments made in 1905, under the 
direction of the Commissary-General of the War 
Department, and these were the result of a report 
from United States Consular Clerk, George H. 
Murphy, of Frankfort, Germany. Below is a con- 
densation of Mr. Murphy's report, as it appeared in 
Daily Consular Reports in April, 1905. 

"In an address to an audience of working people, 
Mrs. Back, wife of the director of the industrial 
school at Frankfort, brought to the attention of her 
hearers, the hay-box or fireless stove. 

"Every housewife knows that a pot of coffee can 
be kept hot for some time, without fire, simply by 
wrapping it in a dry towel to hinder escape of heat. 
The Norwegian "automatic kitchen" attracted at- 
tention at the Paris exposition of 1867 but failed to 
come into general use. Now in Berlin, Munich, and 




CYLINDER TYPE FIRELESS COOKER 




BENCH TYPE FIRELESS COOKER 

The "Caloric," Aluminoid Lined with Aluminum Utensils. The 
aluminum utensils with clamped covers can be purchased separately 
for home-made cookers. 



FIRELESS COOKER 153 

other cities popular lecturers are showing the prac- 
tical value of this method of cooking. 

"Mrs Back stated that she had used the hay-box 
for thirteen years, thus greatly reducing the cares of 
housekeeping. At first she used the box merely to 
keep finished food warm. Discovering that the 
process of cooking continued, she experimented and 
found that she could finish, in the box, all boiled 
and roasted meats, sauces, fish, soup, vegetables, 
fruits, puddings, etc. 

"The box cannot be used for articles whose chief 
attraction lies in the crispness resulting from rapid 
cooking on a hot fire, but the rest of the meal may 
be ready and hot in the box. Patience will secure 
needed experience, and remove all doubts. In 
general, two or three minutes actual boiling on the 
(ire is sufficient for vegetables, while roasted meat 
requires twenty to thirty minutes. Most articles 
should remain tightly closed in the box for two or 
three hours, and may be left to keep hot for ten or 
twelve hours. 

"Dried legumes, fruit, etc., should be well soaked 
in cold water, allowed to boil two to five minutes and 
left for two hours in the box. Soft vegetables should 
be merely brought to a boil and then placed for an 
hour or two in the box. Soups are improved by 
being allowed to develop for two or three hours in 
the box. 

"Covers of pots should not be lifted when they 



154 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

are being transferred. The object is to retain the 
heat as long as possible when it has once been de- 
veloped. Too much water is better than too little. 

"A home-made hay-box will usually be found 
cheaper and more practical than those with immovable 
felt and upholstery. Almost any box will do, which 
has a tight cover. The wood should not be too thin, 
and there should be no knot-holes or cracks. Old 
trunks and valises may sometimes be used in this 
way. 

"The box should be loosely filled with shavings, 
paper or hay, the last being probably most satis- 
factory. The hay should be renewed every two or 
three weeks. Nests are made for the pots and the 
hay packed tightly under and around them. Any 
kind of pots can be used, although, of course, earthen 
ones hold the heat best. The tighter the tops fit, 
the better, but if the food is to be used within six 
or eight hours, they need not be hermetically closed. 
AVhen the pots have been placed in the box carefully, 
without lifting the lids, they should be covered with 
a pillow and the lid at once securely closed. 

"When not in use, the box should always be left 
open and the hay loosened, the pillow being hung 
in the air to dry thoroughly. 

"The chief advantages of the hay-box may be 
summarized as follows: 

"The cost of fuel can be reduced four-fifths or 
even nine-tenths. 



FIRELESS COOKER 155 

"The pots are not made difficult to wash; they 
are not blackened, and they will last for an almost 
indefinite period of time. 

"The food is better cooked, more tasty, more 
nutritious and more digestible. 

"Kitchen odors are obviated. 

"Time and labor are saved. 

"There is no need of stirring, no fear of scorching 
or burning. 

"The cares of the housewife are lessened, and her 
health and happiness are protected. 

"The kitchen need not be in disorder half of the day. 

"Warm water can always be had when there is 
illness in the house and during the summer when 
fires are not kept up. 

"Where workmen's families live crowded in one 
or two rooms, the additional suffering caused by 
kitchen heat is obviated by the hay -box, for the pre- 
liminary cooking can all be done in the cool of the 
morning. 

"At picnics the appetites of young people are only 
half satisfied by sandwiches and other cold food. 
The hay-box can furnish a hot meal anywhere at 
any time. 

"Similarly, men and women working in the fields, 
or having night employment, can take with them 
hot coffee, soup or an entire meal, thus avoiding the 
necessity of returning home at a fixed hour or having 
it brought to them by another member of the family. 



156 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

"When different employments make it necessary 
for the various members of a family to take their 
meals at different hours, this can be arranged with- 
out a multiplication of work with the assistance of 
the hay-box." 

This consular report covered the ground so fully 
that any intelligent woman can make it the basis of 
experiments adapted to her own surroundings. 

A small trunk measuring 18x22x24 inches, an 
agate-ware kettle with close tin cover, made to order 
to fit in, or merely rest on the kettle, were the appli- 
ances which served me satisfactorily this summer. 

It was not easy to secure hay, so we looked about 
for a similar non-conducting substance, and found 
some boxes of excelsior and sawdust — not quite 
enough of either, so they were combined and put 
in bags and sewed up closely enough to prevent clut- 
ter. The most of the bags were of denim, but some 
thin cotton bags, in which five and ten pounds of 
sugar had come, were filled, and did good service in 
lilling chinks. 

To test the heat-retaining capacity of this outfit, 
two gallons of water was raised to the boiling point 
in the kettle. Closely covered, it was placed on one 
of the thicker cushions in the trunk and the others 
fitted in closely around and over the kettle. A 
blanket and some newspapers were spread over all, 
and the trunk locked. Twenty-four hours later the 
water was hot enough for dish-washing or bathing. 



TIRELESS COOKER 157 

The statements made in the above report were 
fully verified by my own experience. This method 
of cooking is especially adapted to any article requir- 
ing long, gentle heat, such as the making of soup- 
stocks and broths and rendering tough meats tender. 
With very tough fowls, when the water cools down 
below 150-160 F., the whole may again be raised to 
the boiling point and started again in the hay-box. 

It must not be expected to do everything, but 
every housekeeper who must depend upon a gas or 
kerosene stove should arrange a tireless cooker for 
economy of fuel and to increase her own comfort. 

Many an American housewife uses both coal and 
gas ranges in her winter home, and in the summer 
cottage must depend upon wood and kerosene stoves. 
Probably during the year she also uses a chafing-dish 
occasionally, and that may derive its heat from alco- 
hol or electricity. Wherever a house is supplied 
with electric lights there should be at least one elec- 
trical cooking appliance. Some excellent ones are 
already on the market, and the next generation, doubt- 
less, will use this force in housekeeping as freely as 
we use gas. 

Each of these methods of securing heat for cooking 
may be the best under certain conditions and have 
disadvantages under others. The housekeeper needs 
to be keen in judgment and quick to see in order to 
adapt her formulas of cookery successfully in turn 
to wood, coal, gas, kerosene, gasoline, alcohol or 



158 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

electricity. She must know how to tell when a thing 
is "done," and not trust wholly to the number of 
minutes prescribed in a recipe. 

Women who are called upon to make such rapid 
transitions become adaptable, inventive, and are 
less "set in their ways" in other directions. The 
study of processes of cookery may thus become a 
broadening influence and means of general education. 

CO-OPERATIVE COOKING 

But there are certain household traditions which 
hold many intelligent women in a firm grasp, and 
these traditions may be traced to the generations 
behind us, when no money value was placed upon 
woman's labor. It does not yet seem easy for 
women to count fairly the cost of foods cooked 
under their own roof. Until this can be done there 
is small, chance for co-operative industries, which 
might relieve the pressure of home cares where house- 
workers are not readily secured. 

Few families to-day find it wise to make butter 
for themselves, and many would do well to buy 
bread, also. When there is a demand for high-grade 
bread made outside the home, it will be supplied, as 
has been the case here with other commodities, and 
with bread in other countries. There are many 
small towns to-day to which bread is sent from first- 
class bakeries ioo to 200 miles away. 

With stronger laws, better enforced for the clean- 
liness and purity of food products; with greater 




HEAT CONSERVER 
Apparatus used in an attempt to deliver hot meals at a distance. 



KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 159 

intelligence on the part of the consumer, and greater 
skill on the part of the producer, there is no reason 
why we should not in the future be able to secure 
wholesome prepared foods of all grades at fair prices 
outside the home, rather than attempt to prepare 
everything under the home roof. 

The isolated home must still be its own factory, 
and its director must be a Jack of all Trades. Such 
households should be supplied with all helps to make 
labor easy, but even tnen, much hard labor is neces- 
sary. Only where large quantities of any product 
are to be prepared does it pay to have all manner of 
machines and cunning devices to produce the most 
perfect results. 

KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 

Where many people are to be fed, a few good tools 
like a bread-mixer (Seep. 105), meat-chopper, etc., 
are often more helpful than another pair of hands, 
unless they are especially efficient ones. 

One .pupil has asked for a list of necessary kitchen 
furnishings. A good list is given in Household Man- 
agement, page 105. Here is another designed for 
beginners in housekeeping, or for small families living 
in city flats, where there is no room to store super- 
fluous utensils. The stove and refrigerator are usu- 
ally supplied with such apartments. 

For light housekeeping, where a chafing-dish or 
small oil or gas stove is the only means for cooking, 
still fewer utensils would suffice. With the addition 



KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 



161 



of a few fancy molds, all the foods illustrated in this 
book could be prepared by the utensils here men- 
tioned. On page 101 some of the most useful are 
shown. 

When selecting any utensil, be sure that it is of 
good quality, with no imperfections that will inter- 
fere with keeping it perfectly clean. 



KITCHEN FURNISHINGS. 



High stool $i . 50 

Scales 1 . 00 

Fibre pail .50 

Dish pan 50 

Soap shaker 10 

Dish mop .10 

Vegetable brush .10 

Tea kettle 1 . 00 

Pastry board .40 

Rolling pin 10 

Chopping bowl and 

knife .50 

Bean pot . 30 

Lemon squeezer(glass) .10 

Tea pot .25 

Coffee pot .50 

Muffin pan, agate wave . 50 

Quart measure .35 

Pitcher 50 

Stew kettle and cover. 1 . 00 

Roasting pan .50 

Sauce pans (three) . . .75 

Bowls (two) 50 

Double boiler 75 

Two quart pans (two) . 50 
Deep plates, to fit pan 

as covers (two) 50 

Cups for moulds (six) . 75 



French knife 

Paring knives (two) . . 

Spatula 

Cork screw 

Can opener 

Measure cups, glass 

and tin .' 

Wire egg beater 

Dover egg beater 

Fine strainer 

Coarse strainer 

Colander 

Flour sieve 

Wire potato masher. . 

Grater 

Wooden spoons (two) 
Tablespoons (six) .... 

Teaspoons (six) 

Long fork 

Cutters (two) 

Omelet pan 

Loai pans (three) .... 
Cake pans (three) .... 
Cake pans (three) .... 

Scotch bowl 

Glass jars (one dozen). 



•5° 

■3? 
■3° 
■25 
•5° 

. 20 
. 10 

. TO 

05 
TO 



. IO 
. IO 

. 20 

■ 2 5 
.60 

•30 
■3° 
■5° 
00 



Total $20 .00 



1 62 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

THE HOUSEKEEPER'S LIBRARY 

Quite as important as helpful utensils to the house- 
keeper are the right kind of books. 

When we remember that cooking schools have 
been established for a generation in all our large cities, 
and that the lessons given in such schools have in 
several places been put in book form, and when we 
see the lists of cook-books sent out by publishers, we 
might suppose that every housekeeper in America 
would be the possessor of several reliable cook-books. 
But even the intelligent women taking this course 
are rarely well supplied. 

One pupil honestly states the matter thus: 

"My failures have been many, owing partly to my 
lack of a cook-book. I have overcooked custards, 
and undercooked corn starch. I have stirred and 
beaten all the gas out of pancakes, and. wondered why 
they did: not rise, etc., etc." 

Many women everywhere are content to depend 
upon cook-books issued by patent medicine venders, 
and upon newspaper clippings liable to typographical 
errors. Such things may afford helpful suggestions, 
but much food-material has been wasted by blind 
following of careless printers, and writers who have 
little knowledge of the art and science of cookery. 

Enterprising business men realize that they must 
read their trade journals to keep abreast of the tide 
of competition. Many a woman spends more than a 
dollar a year for tissue paper patterns for clothing, 



HO USEKEEPER' S LIB PAR Y 1 6> 

who would hesitate to buy a cook-book once in five 
years, or to subscribe for a reliable household maga- 
zine. 

There has been little cash recompense for the 
housekeeper, however much she studied her trade, 
but now we are beginning to realize that personal 
health and family comfort are above price ; that they 
depend chiefly on the air we breathe, the water we 
drink, and the food we eat. 

On page 140 of this hand-book, there is given a 
list of reliable books relating to food and cookery, 
the whole costing about $20. The average American 
housekeeper, especially if she does her own house- 
work, should own at least half of these books. While 
she may not find it feasible to spend more than a 
dollar a year in this way, still she may be sure that 
ten dollars spent in the purchase of helpful books 
would save more than that amount, in a single year, 
in her bills for food materials. 

Any one near a public library has the opportunity 
to read such books, and thus discover which are the 
ones she wishes to own. If the library is not already 
supplied in this direction, send in requests that cer- 
tain books be purchased. (Any of the books will 
be loaned to members by the School). 

The study of this hand-book lays the foundations 
in the fewest words possible for the fundamental 
processes of cookery. As one pupil has expressed it: 
"I h?.Y p f 01] . rir ! tfe§ lessons wonderfully helpful in 




SWEET POTATO CONE 



CARD CATALOG OF FOODS 165 

classifying and fixing facts in my mind, and I feel 
that I am much better grounded in the principles of 
cookery than I ever should have been by merely 
studying cook-books." 

After such a beginning, each one reading a cook- 
book will instinctively select and add to the founda- 
tion principles, already acquired, such explanatory 
details as are best adapted to her home conditions. 

CARD CATALOG OF FOODS 

The up-to-date housekeeper is ready to accept 
modern ideas and adapt methods from other depart- 
ments of life to her business of housekeeping. She 
finds a card catalogue one of the simplest means for 
keeping addresses, and has another for an inventory 
of her household possessions, and a third for a list of 
foods especially suited to her family. In this list 
each card records not only the name of a food, but 
the approximate beginning and end of its season, its 
average price, the quantity required to serve a given 
number of persons, and several of the best methods 
of using it. Here, also, may be references to certain 
pages of the cook-books in her library. Or the cards 
may have copies of the recipes; such cards should 
have a hole in the top, so that they may be hung up 
in the kitchen within view of the worker. 

When uncertain what to chose for the next day's 
dinner, or for some special occasion, she looks over 
these cards, and several possibilities will be suggested. 
From this plan one naturally comes to the study of 
dietaries and an application of the principles laid, 
down in Food and Dietetics. 



COOKING A FINE ART 167 

Among the helps in study along these lines are the 
series of dietary studies which have been issued from 
time to time by the office of Experiment Stations, 
United States Department of Agriculture, Washing- 
ton, D. C. Two of the best to begin with are Bulletin 
28 (Revised), "The Chemical Composition of American 
Food Materials" (5 cents), and Bulletin 129, "Dietary 
Studies in Boston, Springfield, Philadelphia, Chicago" 
(10 cents). The latter gives menus for several days at 
different prices, with itemized list of materials used 
and cost of each. 

These may be obtained by sending coin to the Su- 
perintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 

COOKERY A FINE ART 

In cookery, quite as much depends upon the order 
and manner of combining the materials as upon the 
ingredients themselves. The manipulation of the 
cook-stove has something in common with that of 
a musical instrument. It is possible to play by ear 
with little knowledge of scales and chords, or to cook 
without knowing the laws of heat or the chemical 
composition of food materials. 

Or, by continual practice, a single composition 
may be committed to memory and be reproduced in 
a mechanical fashion either upon the piano or on the 
kitchen range. Only after much study and repetition 
of processes does one become able to interpret intel- 
ligently the works of great masters, and the funda- 
mental laws of harmony must be known, before one 



CAKE MAKING 169 

can produce new creations cither in music or more 
material things. 

As music appeals to the sense of hearing, so does 
cookery to that of taste. The truest art in cookery 
is not the ability to construct wondrous complica- 
tions of food materials, or to carve roses from beets, 
or model faces in butter, but rather to develop the 
full flavor of a food by the simplest process, to make 
the "mouth water'-' — that is, to stimulate the flow 
of the digestive juices by savory odors and flavors. 

Brillat Savarin well said that the invention of a 
new dish meant more happiness to the human race 
than the discovery of a constellation, but quite as 
important is the constant preparation of the simple, 
old foods in the very best way — the baked potato, 
the boiled egg, the broiled steak, etc., etc. 

CAKE MAKING 

The mixing of cake often has more to do with its 
texture than the proportion of materials used, though 
both have their influence. 

It is an interesting experiment to make a good 
cooky dough and bake portions of it with different 
proportions of flour. Take, for example, the familiar 
1-2-3-4 cake formulas and transpose the flour and 
eggs so that we use one cup of butter, two cups of 
sugar, three eggs and four cups of flour. The stiffness 
of this dough will vary with size of the eggs and the 
quality of the flour. Often some liquid and more 
flour are added, making a less rich mixture, and then ' 



170 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

some baking-powder or its equivalent will be needed, 
otherwise the creaming of the butter and the eggs 
will bring sufficient air into the dough. 

Even before all the flour is worked in, some of the 
dough may be spread on a tin and cut in shapes after 
baking. When slightly stiffer, bits of the mixture 
may be dropped on the tin, fruit or nuts put over 
them v and they will spread out in dainty little cakes. 

If still more flour is added, but before the dough 
is quite firm enough to use a rolling-pin, small balls 
of the dough may be shaped round with the hands 
and flattened on the pan with the under surface of 
a smooth tin cup. 

A dough in this stage may be chilled, and then 
can be rolled easily, and the resulting cakes will be 
much richer than if more flour had been worked in. 

Deft, experienced hands produce satisfactory results 
with doughs, because they can shape them without 
working in an excessive amount of flour. 

MENU MAKING 

Through the test questions, 5 the attention of our 
pupils has been called to the planning of meals for 
a household, for this is an important part of the house- 
keeper's duties. Under Part I we asked for menus 
introducing as many dishes as feasible containing 
milk and cheese. Such menus would be useful where 
the meat markets were poor and milk abundant, 
since one may thus secure similar nutritive elements, 
and usually at less expense than for meats. 



MENU MAKING 171 

After Part II, the request was made for a menu 
for two days when eggs were cheap, and for two days 
more when they were expensive. This was done 
because few housekeepers pay sufficient attention to 
market prices. They get the idea that a certain 
food is costly, and therefore not to be used at all, 
when, perhaps, a careful comparison of the prices of 
all ingredients would show it to be cheap at some 
seasons. Angel and sponge-cakes, for example, when 
eggs are at their lowest price, are less expensive than 
average butter-cakes. 

With eggs at 25 cents a dozen and butter at 25 
cents a pound, a sponge-cake with five eggs costs no 
more than a cake with two eggs and half a cup of 
butter. If the whites of twice as many eggs are used, 
the actual cost is no greater, since the yolks are avail- 
able for other purposes. 

At the close of the lessons we asked for a week's 
menu from each householder represented, with sug- 
gestions for their improvement, without increase of 
labor or expense. 

The responses show an increased attention to the 
details that count in feeding a family satisfactorily 
to all concerned. 

Yet menu-making is still a great bugbear to many 
pupils, and a few. more hints on the subject may be 
helpful. 

Many are hampered seriously by the habits and 
wishes of different members of their households. 



172 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

One young woman writes: "My father demands 
griddle cakes every morning the year round." 

Naturally, with such tastes, it is difficult to intro- 
duce many new dishes, or to secure a very varied 
menu. 

In the old days of the brick oven, most of the 
necessary cooking for a family was done on one day 
of the week, for the proper heating of that oven could 
not be accomplished hurriedly. 

Now with the gas stove, conditions are very dif- 
ferent, and two or three hours each day should be 
ample time for the actual cookery for an average 
family. But to accomplish everything in these 
limits wise planning is required. Whatever requires 
long cooking for breakfast must be started the pre- 
vious day, and preparation for the dinner or luncheon 
is begun while breakfast is being made ready, and 
so on. 

Many business women keep house in this way, 
and their families are as well fed as those where 
more time is frittered away on petty nothings. It 
is only by application of business methods in our 
kitchens, that the routine in many households can 
be simplified and untangled. 

The preparation of food for an average household 
is not a difficult matter when the manager has 
learned her trade and each individual member is not 
unreasonable in his or her requirements. 

The housekeeper must think out her plan of action 



MENU MAKING 



173 



for days in advance and thus save unnecessary dupli- 
cation of processes. 

When one pair of hands must do all the cooking, 
it is a foolish waste of time and strength to cook 
fresh food for the purpose of making composite dishes. 
Let those come occasionally as an easy way of finishing 
up some bits too good to throw away, which have 
already appeared in other forms. For example, it 




Making Timbale Cases. 

takes no more effort or fuel to boil twelve potatoes 
than is required to cook six. These may appear 
one day as plain boiled, if we have a roast with a good 
gravy. The next day we are to serve the meat cold 
or perhaps fried fish with no sauce, so the second 
portion of potatoes is cut in cubes or slices and 
reheated in butter, flavored with onion, and sprinkled 
with chopped parsley just before serving, giving 
us Lyonnaise potatoes. Or we might prefer Delmonico 
potatoes and put them in layers in a pudding dish with 



MENU MAKING 175 

a sprinkle of cheese between, pour a thin white 
sauce over, cover with buttered crumbs, and heat 
through in the oven. Or the potatoes may be mashed 
and for a second appearance take the form of a huge 
cone, or apples, or pears for individual service. 

Sometimes in our zeal to use up left-overs, we 
expend much*time and strength and more additional 
material than the value of the original article war- 
rants. But if one owns a timbale iron, those fragile 
shells resulting from frying a batter on it are attractive 
receptacles for a little creamed chicken or a sweet- 
bread. 

Croquettes have their place occasionally, and often 
save the purchase of more meat and thus justify the 
time they require. A garnish of crisp triangles of 
toast around a dish of creamed meat disposes of 
both the scraps of meat and bits of bread — or 
cases may be made of bread and browned in the oven 
and filled with meat. 

The store closet should be kept well stocked, and 
this is less expensive and far easier than buying 
things as needed. One order a week ought to be 
enough for the staple groceries, and two orders a 
week in winter and three in summer for meats, 
fruits, and fresh vegetables. Do not order by tele- 
phone, but at least once each week visit the market 
and make the order according to what is available 
there. 

The time often spent in a daily visit to markets or 



MENU MAKING 177 

a dady call from the store-man can be used to better 
advantage in an average home. 

A fair supply of good-grade canned goods should 
be kept in the house for emergencies ; but as a whole 
these are more expensive than fresh cooked meats 
and vegetables; but where fuel is expensive and 
labor high, they may be used more freely. 

Milk should be used generously. Many families 
would do well to double their present milk supply. 
Where milk is abundant and canned vegetables at 
hand, it takes but a few moments to prepare a nour- 
ishing and attractive cream soup of corn, beans, peas, 
or tomatoes. If the top of the milk has been used 
for cereal and coffee, the remainder will be quite as 
satisfactory as whole milk for soups or puddings, 
when butter or other fat is added. 

If our home is at a distance from markets and we 
have an abundance of one type of food material and 
little of others, then it may be necessary for us to 
devise many ways of serving this one, and then we 
must use different forms and flavors that we may 
not tire of the monotonous diet. But when the sea- 
son of any fruit, vegetable, or meat is brief, then we 
need serve it only in its natural form or cooked in the 
simplest manner. 

As the seasons change, cold merging into heat 
and heat into cold again, we let our fires go out, then 
we kindle them, and we decrease and then increase 
our clothing. But few households make a corres- 



178 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

pondingly marked change in their food, adapting it 
to the differing needs of the body as the external 
temperature changes. 

All of us know places where pork and pies occupy as 
prominent a position on the tables in July as in Janu- 
ary, though their heat-giving qualities make them 
out of place in summer, even if admissible in winter. 




Some Ways of Serving- Oranges. 

"Pork and beans," where the fat predominates, may 
be suitable for midwinter, while "baked beans," with 
a small amount of fat — be it pork, beef, butter or 
olive oil — are not out of place at any season. 

Another phase of this matter is the improvement 
in nagging appetites, which is accomplished by a 
change in food. The city dwellers are often better 
off in the spring than the country family. From 
the South to the city markets come greens of several 
kinds, asparagus, lettuce, cucumbers, and radishes, 
while the country garden is still bare. A small 
bunch of asparagus as a garnish around some inex- 



MENU MAKING 



179 




Lambs Heart with Asparagus. 

pensive meat like lamb or calf hearts will give relish 
when a larger quantity would be an extravagance. 

Those who prepare the food for the family deserve 
a change of labor from season to season, and many 
women in the country would do well to strike from 
pie making and spend the time so saved out of doors. 
It is no harder to care for a strawberry bed than to 




Apricot or Peach J 



i8o PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

wield the rolling pin or bend over a hot stove, and 
strawberries may well be substituted for pies. 

True economy must be practiced in the planning 
of menus and one thing fitted into another so that 
nothing is lost. 

USE OF FATS 

Perhaps there is no one thing more often wasted 
in the average household than fat, yet this is essen- 
tial to our health, and we pay high prices for it in 
cream, olive oil, and butter, when cheaper forms 
might be substituted in some cases. 

The fat trimmed from meats is too often left 
at the market or thrown away after cooking, instead 
of clarifying it according to the directions on page 
73. This, when properly prepared, would be far 
superior to the lard and cooking butter often bought 
for culinary purposes. 

The flank fat from beef, or "cod fat," as some 
market-men call it, is much softer than suet, and, if 
carefully prepared, is to be preferred to cooking- 
butter for making ordinary cookies, gingerbread, 
pastry, etc. This clarified fat usually costs less than 
ten cents a pound, even after the weight of the scraps 
is deducted. - 

When a housekeeper has not time to prepare 
such fat, she may buy uncolored oleomargarine at 
about half the price of table butter, or in the vicinity 
of fifteen cents a pound. (Colored butterine is taxed 
ten cents a pound.) Many preparations of cotton ' 



TABLE SERVICE 181 

seed oil are on the market, which are satisfactory 
when fresh for frying and for use in doughs. 

One must use discretion in combining fats for 
different uses. It is not desirable to use smoked 
fat like that from bacon, or highly seasoned fat, such 
as comes from sausages, for frying doughs, but these 
should be kept each by itself and used for warming 
potatoes and other vegetables. 

The hard suet and soft chicken oil clarified together 
give an excellent compound, which may be substi- 
tuted for butter in tomato sauce and some soups, as 
well as in many doughs. 

In the same way all bits of meat and bone should be 
used for stock, alone, or combined with vegetables. 
Where meat is served once or twice daily in a house, 
there is rarely need of buying any especially for soups. 

TABLE SERVICE 

The desirability of careful table service for the 
simplest foods is shown by this incident told by one 
pupil. 

"My aunt had great difficulty in getting us to 
eat cereal for breakfast, so she bought us each a very 
pretty blue bowl. We were allowed to use these 
only when we had cereal for breakfast. The result 
was that we eagerly asked for it every morning and 
now are very fond of the various kinds." 

No one can deny that such attention to details 
is an important part of the housekeeper's duty. 

Where there are no servants, a housekeeper must 



1 82 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

be .careful that her efforts for dainty service do 
not involve her in labor beyond her strength. Each 
member of the family should have a part in the table 
service that everything may move smoothly. 

MENUS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS 

Every housekeeper occasionally has to plan a 
special menu for home or club or church society, and 
consideration of this matter may be helpful here. 

It is of first importance that we do not undertake 
more than we can carry out well. This applies to 
the choice of the food material, to the number of 
courses, and the way in which they are to be served. 

Instead of sending away for rare luxuries with 
which our guests might be familiar every day, let us 
make the most of the specialties of our own locality. 

The table decorations may take the form or color 
of the season, but beware of special shapes or gar- 
nishes which might cause any deterioration of the 
food to be served. 

Other essential points are to have everything served 
at the proper temperature, to alternate brown and 
white or crisp and soft effects, and to avoid having 
the same article appear in two different courses. 

This couplet from an old English poet sums up the 
whole matter: 

"Three dishes well dressed, and a welcome withal, 

Both please th thy guest, and become th thy hall." 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS 

FOR 

WAITRESSES AT THE LAKE PLACID 
CLUB 

By Mrs. Melvil Dewey 
Secretary, Lake Placid Conference on Home Economics. 

To serve food at the right temperature, both hot and 
cold, with neatness and the least possible noise and 
delay, constitutes the true art of the waitress. It is 
a problem in economics requiring careful study that 
there may be no waste of time and energy. 

To Lay the Table. Put on silence cloth, then 
table cloth with middle folds in the center and the 
center ornament of ferns or flowers. Arrange places 
symmetrically. Place knives with sharp edge in, 
and spoons, with bowl up, at right of plate, forks 
with tines up, at the left, all one inch from edge of 
table. Napkins in the center. Glass at right just 
above point of knife, bread and butter plate at left 
above forks. Place three sets of salts and peppers on 
each table, one set at each end and one in middle for 
long tables; for round tables one third distance apart. 
Have bread, butter, and water carafe on table at every 
meal. Fill carafe and butter plates the last thing. 
Serve cream in individual pitchers, and have a china 
pitcher of milk on table for breakfast and supper. 
Leave wafers, jelly, and relishes on table as well as 
bread, butter, and water. 

'83 



1 84 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

Waiting on Table. Keep cool, move noiselessly, 
wear rubber heels, avoid all clatter of dishes. Study 
your table carefully, see that everything is in place, 
that sugar bowls, salt and pepper sprinklers, vinegar 
and oil cruets are filled, that the extra dishes needed, 
silver, and finger-bowls are on the side table, and that 
neatness prevails. 

While waiting, a chair may be drawn back from 
table at least three feet, and waitress may sit till 
guests for her table enter dining-room. Never sit 
near enough to touch the table. Rise as your guests 
approach, seat the eldest lady or head of the party, 
pass the menu card to her or the one who usually 
orders first. Fill glasses and serve butter while menu 
card is examined. Put only small piece of ice in 
each glass, enough to cool it, unless more is requested. 
Some prefer water without ice; study preferences. 

Stand at the left when you pass or receive dishes. 
Stand at the right when you set down tea, coffee, 
plates or other dishes. A safe rule is, pass from the 
left, set down from the right. Place dishes in neat 
orderly straight lines. 

Begin with a lady or older person. 

For Breakfast, bring fruit and cereal orders 
together. If near kitchen, a second trip may be 
made for the hot cereals. 

Place finger-bowls when fruit and cereal is set 
down and take orders for next course. 

Before leaving the room at any time see that each 



DIRECTIONS FOR WAITRESSES 185 

guest is provided with all needed for the previous 
course, whether finger-bowl, sugar, cream or spoon 
for cereal or coffee, and that bread, butter, water 
(the constants for each meal) are sufficient. 

Remove finger bowls and soiled dishes before 
placing next course. 

For the meat course set down plates from right 
and pass each dish from which guest is to help him- 
self at his left. Leave plates of rolls, muffins, and 
bread on table, always, not on side table. 

The last thing at end of each meal, remove plates 
and place finger-bowls one third filled, with doily 
under bowl, before each guest. 

Remove every soiled dish from the table as soon 
as the purpose which it has served is over. 

Never reach across the table in front of a person. 

In lifting glasses and pitchers never put fingers on 
the rims. 

For Dinner, general directions are the same. 
Bring soup individually, pass wafers, and take orders 
for next course. 

Where meat orders vary, bring an individual platter 
if for one only, on larger platter according to number 
to be served. 

Bring vegetables in covered dishes and pass in 
order seated, beginning, When convenient, with a 
lady or elder person. Reverse order of passing 
nccasionallv that the same person, may not always 
come last. 



1 86 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

Study the tastes and individuality of each person 
and anticipate needs if possible. 

Unless asked to do so, do not bring individual dishes 
for vegetables except for one person who may come 
specially early or late. Bring in covered dishes, only 
enough food for orders given ; take out and replenish 
with hot food as other orders are taken. 

Leave bread and butter plates till after salad 
course. 

Remove everything before dessert except needed 
silver and glass. Brush crumbs lightly from table 
to clean plate with napkin or doily before dessert is 
placed. 

Serve coffee after dessert. 

Place finger bowls as at breakfast. 

Study each person's order as though for yourself 
and see that everything needed to go with it is at hand, 
salt, pepper, vinegar, oil, sugar, cream, spoon, knife, 
fork, finger-bowl, whatever the course may require. 

Avoid extra trips to kitchen or serving-room for 
one article. See that everything required for that_ 
course is on tray before you leave. 

In removing dishes much waste can be avoided 
by a little care. Trays should not be piled up high 
so that breakage occurs from dishes sliding off. Jel- 
lies, pickles, nuts, salads, olives, butter, bread, and 
food served on dishes other than the one from which 
it is eaten, should be taken to special table in serving- 
room or kitchen and cared for by pantry assistant. 



DIRECTIONS FOR J] r AITRESSES 187 

If there is not room to take them out on tra}r without 
piling other dishes over or mussing them, put on lower 
shelf of side table and leave till another trip or for tray 
boy. 



SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM ARRANGED FOR 
CLASS STUDY ON 

PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

Ample material for a course of six or more lessons may be 
secured from the lesson books on Principles of Cookery 
and from the Government Bulletins. The Farmers ' Bulletins 
may be obtained without charge by writing to the United 
States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. As 
many copies of each will be sent as desired. The bulletins 
for which a price is given may be obtained by sending coin 
to the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 
The Government will . not accept postage stamps. A few 
reference books are mentioned which will be loaned by the 
School for the cost of postage given, if not available in the 
local public library. Any encyclopedia will furnish much 
on every subject, and a book of standard quotations will also 
add to the interest of the meeting. 

All the common daily foods may be studied from the 
historical or literary standpoint, for each has a history and 
literature of its own. Often it is wise to set the practical 
housekeeper to look up the historical side of a food, while 
a philosophical member is required to report upon its prac- 
tical use. Thus each gets a fresh point of view and a new 
interest in an old subject. 

It might prove interesting to arrange for a series of lunches 
to illustrate the foods being studied. Here it is best to 
keep out of the conventional lines and make the menus 
educational. When the class is large, a few may be chosen 
to prepare the lunch for all and directed to keep the expense 
within certain limits, 10 to 20 cents apiece, and to give 
a report. Chafing dishes should be provided for each group 
of four to eight and some experimental cookery tried. 

1S9 



i go PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

MEETING I 

(Study pages i -39) 

Fuels and Appliances for their Use 

Work of Count Rumford: — Rumford Kitchen Leaflets, No. r. 
($1.00, postage 8c.) 

Work of Benjamin Franklin. See encyclopedias. 

Aladdin Oven. See Science of Nutrition, by Edward 
Atkins. ($2.00, postage 14c.) 

Fireless Cook Stove. Pamphlet, postage 4c. See also 
Supplement to Principles of Cookery. 

The Gas Stove. If gas is in common use, have members 
calculate the amount of gas required to bake a loaf of 
bread, a cake, to boil two quarts of water, etc., by observ- 
ing the length of time taken to burn two cubic feet — i, e., 
one complete revolution of the hand of the small dial D. 
See page 10. See also Question 5. 

Electric Cooking — Technical World Magazine, July 1906. 
(Postage 6c.) 

Water 

Experiments: See pages 21, 22. Test the water boiling 
slowly and boiling hard with a thermometer. Note the 
simmering temperature and observe how much less heat 
is required to keep the water at this temperature than to 
keep it boiling vigorously. (If a gas stove is not available, 
use a small kerosene stove or a chafing dish burner.) A 
suitable thermometer may be obtained through the school 
for 50 cents. Loaned for 6c postage. 

The experiment on page 22 can be made with one dish using 
the same quantity (say a cup) in each case. 

Topic: Kitchen Experiment. 

References: Chemistry of Cooking, by Williams. Chapter 
II. Boiling of Water. ($1.50, postage 12c.) 
Drinking Water and Ice Supplies, by Prudden. 
(75c, postage 6c.) 



PROGRAM 1 91 

Preserving 

Canning of Fruit, Preserves and Jellies, Maria Parloa . 

Farmers' Bulletin No. 203, free. 
Improved Method of Canning, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 262. 
Use and Abuse of Food Preservatives. Extract No. 221. 

Free, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



MEETING II 

(Study pages 39-54) 
Milk 

Make sour milk cheese and junket. (See page 44.) 
Show how acid may be used with milk without curdling. 

(See page 45.) 
References: Farmers' Bulletin No. 42, Facts about Milk; 
No. 74, Milk as Food; No. 29, Souring of 
Milk and othe. Changes in Milk Products; 
No. 63, Care of Milk on the Farm; No. 210, 
The Covered Milk pail; No. 227, Clean Milk. 
Milk and its Products, by Wing. ($1.00, 
postage ioc.) 
Butter 

See experiments page 50. 

White. Sauce: In a chafing dish, or over a small kerosene or 
gas burner, make white sauce by three methods described 
on page 51. 
To what extent may other less expensive fats be substi- 
tuted for butter. 
Make white sauce with oleomargarine. 

Have some member make two or three small cakes from the, 
same recipe. In one use butter, in another oleomarga- 
rine, in another a mixture of equal parts of lard and beef 
suet. Bake all at the same time and have all conditions. 
,as nearly the sanu as possible, Show results,, 



1 92 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

Topic: French Sauces and their Inventors. See Hand 
Book of Domestic Science, by Wilson, page 69. 
($1.00, postage ioc.) And other books. 
References: Extract No. 44. Butter Substitutes. 

Sanitary and Economic Cooking, by Mary Hinman 
Abel. Chapter on Fats and Oils. (40c, postage 
6c.) 
Cheese 

Make and serve Welsh rarebit made from different recipes, 

using the same kind of cheese, or make two lots by the 

same recipe and method, using two or more grades of cheese. 

See Question 17. 

Exhibit: Show samples of all possible kinds of cheese; 

prices and composition. 
Topic: Ways of using Cheese in Cookery. See Sanitary 

and Economic Cooking and Cook Books. 
References: Farmers' Bulletin No. 82, Curd Test in Cheese 
Making; No. 144, The Curing of Cheese; No. 
162, Cheese Prints; No. 202, Manufacture of 
Cottage Cheese; No. 244, The Food Value of 
Cottage Cheese; No. 166, Cheese Making on 
on the Farm. 
Chemistry of Cooking, by Williams; Chapter IX, 
Cheese. ($1.50, postage 2c.) 
(Select answers to Test Questions on Part I and send them 
to the School for correction and report on experiments.) 



MEETING III 

(Study pages 55-82) 
Eggs 

See experiments on cooking of eggs in water, page 57. 
Try similar experiments in "frying" eggs with fat at high 

and low temperature. 
See Question 6. 
Show egg mixtures as custards, sponge cakes, etc., cooked 

at too high a temperature and the same ingredients COOked 

at correct temperature. 



PROGRAM 193 

References: Farmers' Bulletin No. 12S, Eggs and their Use 
as Food; No. 103, Preserving Eggs; No. 122, 
Flavor of Eggs; No. 262, Color of Eggs. 
Meat, Fish, Fowl 
Sanitary and Economic Cooking, "Methods of Cocking 

Meat," by Mary Hinman Abel. (40c, postage 6c.) 
See Cook Books. 

Farmers' Bulletin No. 34, Meats: Composition and Cooking; 
No. 85, Fish as Food; No. 182, Poultry as Food; No. 193, 
Cooking Meat; No. 162, Cooking Meat. 
The Roasting of Beef, by Isabel Bevier. Circular No. 71, 

University of Illinois (postage 2c). 
Topic: Methods of Cooking Cheap Cuts of Meat in Palatable 
Form. 



MEETING IV 

(Study pages 83-97) 

Vegetables 

See experiments, pages 83-S4. 

Get up an exhibit of uncommon vegetables. 

Illustrate the effect of overcooking vegetables by boiling 
a peeled potato, — one until it is just soft, another until 
it becomes soggy. 

Topic: History of the White Potato. 

References: Farmers' Bulletin No 256, Preparation of 
Vegetables for the Table, by Maria Parloa. 
Farmers' Bulletin No. 121, Beans, Peas and 
other Legumes as Food, by Mary Hinman 
Abel; No. 127, Sweet Potatoes; No. 244, 
Cooking Qualities of Potatoes; No. 73, Losses 
in the Cooking of Vegetables; Extract from 
\ .- 11 -,H,v.,|. iqoo, Value of Potatoes as Food- 



i 9 4 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

Grains 

History: See "Corn Plant " by Sargent. (75c., postage 6c.) 
Experiment: Cook cereal breakfast food for twenty minutes 
as directed. Start another portion the night before and 
cook for two hours, heating before serving. Compare 
results. 
References: Farmers' Bulletin No. 249, Cereal Breakfast 
Foods; Extract 324, Wheat Flour and Bread; 
Extract 326, Macaroni Wheat. 
The Cooking of Starch in Cereals, Extract No. 7, 
Illinois Experiment Station. (Postage 2c ) 
(Select and send answers to Test Questions on Part II.) 



MEETING V 

(Study pages 99-122) 

Bread 

Demonstration: Illustrate proportion of flour and liquid 
for (1) Batters, (2) Muffin Mixtures, (3) Soft Dough, 
(4) Pastry Dough. See pages 99 - 100. 

See experiments with Leavening Agents, page 108. 

If members are in the habit of making their own bread, 
hold a bread contest, appointing judges to grade the bread 
according to the chart designed by Professor Isabel 
Bevier for the Illinois Domestic Science Association, viz. 

Flavor 35 

Lightness 15 

Grain and Texture 20 

Crust — 

Color ) 

Depth >• 10 

Texture ) 
Crumb — 

Color I 

Moisture \ 
Shape and Size 10 

100 
gjzg of pan recommended ( n\ x 3^ x 2;, 1 inches, 



PROGRAM 195 

Pastry and Cake: Illustrate the difference between bread 
and pastry flour by making two cakes exactly alike and 
baking at the same time. 

Illustrate the effect of a quick and a slow oven on the same 
dough. 

Topic: Use of thermometers. 

Bread: Quotations from prose and poetry by members. 

References: Farmers' Bulletin No. 112, Bread and the 
Principles of Bread Making; No. 114, Skim 
Milk in Bread Making. 

Story of a Grain of Wheat, by W. C. Edge. ($r. 00, postage 

IOC.) 

MEETING VI 

(Study pages 122-138) 
Food and its Appeal to the Senses 

The importance of flavor, etc., as an aid to digestion: See 
The Work of the Digestive Glands, by Pawlow, the 
"Psychic or Appetite Juices." ($2. 00, postage 16c.) 
Also Food and Dietetics, by Hutchison. Pages 396-397. 
($3.00, postage 26c.) 
Cut illustration of cooked food from magazine to be discussed 

and criticised by members. 
Topics: The Use and Abuse of Garnish in Food. 

Harmony in Colors, Flavors and Odors in our 

Foods. 
Salads. 

Use of Left-overs. 
Menus 

See Supplement. 
Menus for a week: Have each member give her method of 

planning meals. 
Menus for Social Occasions. 

Topics: Economy of Time and Strength in Cooking. 
Is Hospitality a Lost Art. 
Serving by different Methods, llluslnded 



i 9 6 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 

References: Hostess of To-day, by Linda Hull Larned. 

($1.50, postage 16c.) 

Home Science Cook Book, by Anna Barrows 

and Mary J. Lincoln. ($1. 00, postage 10c.) 

(Select answers to Test Questions on Part III and report 

on supplemental work and experiments.) 



INDEX 



Aladdin oven, 12 
Alcohol as fuel, 150 
Allowance, a day's, 136 
Animal food, comparative 

composition of, 68 
Au gratin, 126 
Baking bread, 108 

powder, mixing, 112 

powder, strength of, 1 1 1 
Basting, 15 
Beans, Sg 
Beating eggs, 66 
Bibliography, 140 
Biscuits, 106 
Boiler, double, 25 
Boiling, 14, 20 
Bones, nutriment in, 74 
Braising, 24 
Bread, baking of, 108 

double process, 104 

fancy, 107 

left-overs, 128 

mixing, 10 1 

short process, 104 
Breakfast, 138 

foods,' 97 
Broiling, 14 
Brown sauce, 51 
Butter, 48 

composition of, 50 

for flavoring, 49 

precautions in using, 52 

rancid, 53 
Buying, 133 
Cake, 115, 169 

flavoring of, 117 

ingredients of, 117 

making, 169 

proportions in, 118 



Cake, sponge, 62 

sweetening of, 118 
Canned foods, 35 
Canning food, 36 
Carbohydrates, 41 
Card catalogue of foods, 165 
Cellulose, softening of, 83 
Cereals, cooking, 96 
Chafing dish, 12 
Charcoal, 4 
Cheese, 44, 53 

composition of, 53 

nutritive value of, 53 
Chicken, roasting, 82 
Chowders, 125 
Coal, 149 

Coffee, making, 26 
Cold storage, 28 
Cook books, use of, 162 
Cookery, art of, 39, 133, 167 

fancy, 122 
Cookies, 119 
Cooking cereals, 96 

co-operative, 158 

effects of, 13 

in milk, 46 

in water, methods of, 20 

temperature in, 23 

vegetables, 90 

with water, 23 
Composition of butter, 50 

of cheese, 53 

of grains, 94 

of milk, 43 

of vegetables, 83 
Condiments, 131 
Constants in food, 135 
Co-operative cooking, 158, 
Cottage pudding, t T 9 



W 



iq8 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 



Cream puffs, 65 
Creamed dishes, 52, 123 

vegetables, 93 
Croquettes, 126 
Custards, 57 

Digestibility of vegetables, 88 
Dinner, 138 

Directions for waitresses, 183 
Dishes, names of, 125 
Dishwashing, 18 
Double process bread, 104 
Doughnuts, 119 
Doughs, 99-121 

manner of mixing, 99, 113 
Dried foods, 33 
Drip coffee pot, 26 
Dropped egg, 58 
Eggs, 55-66 

beating of, 66 

combination with other 
foods, 60 

effect of heat on, 56 

in doughs, 63 

poached, 58 

preserving, 59 

temperature for cookings 7 

value of, 59 

with cheese, 61 

with starch, 58 

with white sauce, 61 
Entrees, 124 
Evaporation, 22 
Fancy cookery, 122 
Fats, 41, 73 

use of, 180 
Fire, 1-16 

Fireless cookers, 152 
Fish, methods of cooking, 77 

proper appearance of, 77 

sauces with, 78 
Flavor, 130 
Flavors, blended, 132 
Flavoring materials, 131 

use of, 132 
Flour, kjt}4s of, J92 



Food, canned, 35 

choice of, 39 

classification of, 40 

cost of, 134 

dried, t,^ 

preserving, 32 

uncooked, 32 

varied with seasons, 177 
Foods, card catalogue of, 165 

variety of, 122 
Fowl, preparing for fricassee, 

.79 
Fruit combinations, 127 
Fruits, 34 

Frying in deep fat, 74 
Fuel, 3 

cost of, 148 
Fuels, comparative value of, 

147 
Furnishings, kitchen, 159 
Garnish, 128 
Gas, 8, 149 

burners, 8 

meter, 10 

stoves, 9 
Gasoline stoves, 1 1 
Gelatine, 128 

jelly, 20 
Grains, composition of, 94 
Hard coal, 4 
Hash, 125 
Hay-box, 152 

use of, 155 
Heat, transmission of, 14 
Housekeeper's library, 162 
Ice, 28 

cream freezer, 31 
Jellies, 35 
Judging meat, 69 

poultry, 79 
Junket, 44 
Keeping fire, 7 
Kerosene, 151 

stoves, n 
Kindling fire, 7 



INDEX 



1 99 



Kitchen furnishings, 159 

scales, 129 
Kneading, 106 
Kromeskies, 126 
Labor, cost of, 136 
Lamb, 70 
Legumes, 87 

Left-overs, use of, 126, 175 
Lightening, methods of, 100 
Meat, 67-76 

braised, 72 

choice of, 67 

cost of, 68 

judging, 69 

left-overs, 127 

preparation of, 7 1 

toughness of, 69 
Menu making, 170 
Menus for special occasions, 
182 

planning, 139 
Milk, 42-48 

composition of, 43 

concentrated, 47 

cooking in, 46 

skimmed, 48 

sour, 44, 48 

use of, 42 
Mineral water, 17 
Molasses with soda, no 
Mushes, 95 
Mutton, 70 
Neutralizing acidity of milk, 

45 
Noodles, 64 
Norwegian cooking box, 13, 

i5 2 
Nuts as food, 34 
Ordering by telephone, 175 
Ordering, time for, 175 
Oven, temperature of, 121 

thermometer, 120 
Ovens, first, 2 
Pasteurization, 45 
Pastry, 115 



Peas, 88 
Pies, 115 
Planning meals, 137 

menus, 139 
Poached eggs, 58 
Popovers, 65 
Potatoes, 89 

loss in preparing, 89 

with meat, 90 
Poultry, 79 
Prepared food, 136 
Preserve jars, 37 
Preserving eggs, 59 

food, 32 

in sugar, 36 
Principle of contrast, 1 24 
Program for class study, 189 
Proteins, 40 
Pudding, cottage, 119 
Puff pastry, 114 
Pulses, 87 
Ragouts, 125 
Rancid butter, 53 
Ranges, 5 

Ration, a day's, 135 
Refrigerator, 29 

care of, 30 
Refuse, 135 
Rice, 96 
Rissoles, 126 
Roasting, 14 
Rolls, 107 
Salads, 94, 126 
Salmis, 125 
Salt meats, 72 

to develop flavor, 130 
Sauce, brown, 51 

white, 50 
Sauces with fish, 78 
Scales, kitchen, 129 
Scallops, 1 26 

Seasons, food varied with, 177 
Serving, 181, 183 
Shaping dough, 107 
Shortening, 114 



PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY 



Short process bread, 104 
•Soda with acids, 108 

with cream of tartar, 109 

with molasses, no 

with sour milk, no 
Soft coal, 5 
Souffles, 126 
Soup stock, 76 
Soups, 125 

names of, 76 

vegetable, 92 
Sour milk with soda, no 
Spices, 131 
Sponge cake, 62, 117 
Spongy mixtures, 66 
Steam cooker, 12, 27 
Stewing, 24 
Stews, 125 
Storage, cold, 28 
Stoves, ancient, 1 

gas, 9 

gasoline, 1 1 

kerosene, 1 1 

modern, 5 
Stuffing, 82 

Sugar as flavoring, 131 
Supper, 139 
System, value of, 137 
Table service, 181 
Tea, making, 26 
Temperature for cooking eggs, 

in cooking, 23 
of oven, 121 
testing of fat, 74 



Thermometer, oven, 120 
Timbales, 64 
Tough meat, 71 
Transmission of heat, 14 
Utensils, adaptability of, 129 

choice of, 22 

for canning, 37 
Variety in foods, 123 
Vegetable left-overs, 127 

soups, 92 
Vegetables, 83-97 

classification of, 85 

combinations of, 90 

composition of, 83 

cooking, 90 

creamed, 93 

digestibility of, 88, 92 

dried, 85 

mashed, 93 

preparation of, 91 

strongly flavored, 85 

wilted, 87 

young, 87 
Waiting on table, 184 
Waitresses, directions for, 

183 
Waste, 135 
Water, 16-27 

flavor of, 18 

mineral, 17 
White sauce, 50, 52 
Wood as fuel, 3, 14S 
Yeast, 100 

amount of, 104 

cakes, 10 1 



FREEHAND COOKING 

ON 

SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES 



EDUCATION AND LIFE 

I. 
Typical Schools 




Home School for Girls 




II. 

"To This Favor Shall She Come at Last" 





FREEHAND COOKING 

THE purpose of this Bulletin is to tabulate the material 
in Principles of Cookery and to give the compara- 
tively few fundamental recipes in cooking which are 
capable of infinite variation. 

Exact proportions, conditions, and materials are essen- 
tial to obtain identical results in cooking, but materials vary 
somewhat and conditions differ, so that it is often necessary 
to modify a recipe. By "free hand cooking" is not meant 
hit or miss cooking, or cooking by guess, but the compound- 
ing of food materials on scientific principles — not following 
blindly by "rule of thumb" recipes which may have been 
made for different conditions. 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

3 teaspoons=l tablespoon 2 pints=l quart 
16 tablespoons=l cup 4 quarts=l gallon 

2 cups=l pint 1 cup=8 ounces (volume) 

A gallon of water weighs 8 1/3 pounds — a cup of water, 8 1/3 
ounces (avoirdupois). A gallon contains 231 cubic inches. 

All materials are measured level, i. e., by filling cup or spoon 
more than full and leveling with a case knife. This applies to 
liquids which "round up" in spoons. Flour, meal, and fine sugar 
are measured after sifting. Measuring cups are not always accu- 
rate and ordinary tea and tablespoons vary considerably. 
Test spoons ztv7// each otlier and with the cup before using. 

APPROXIMATE MEASURE OF ONE POUND. 
2 cups milk 2 5/6 cups granulated cornmeal 

2 cups butter 2 2/3 cups oatmeal 

2 cups chopped meat 6 cups rolled oats 

2 cups granulated sugar 4 1/3 cups rye meal 

2 2/3 cups brown sugar • 1% cups rice 

2 2/3 cups powdered sugar 2 1/3 cups dry beans 

2Y> cups confectioners' sugar 4 1/3 cups coffee 

4 cups patent flour 8 large eggs 

4 cups entire wheat flour 9 medium eggs 

4j/£ cups Graham flour 10 small eggs 

Note. — Read "tablespoons" in place of cups in the above and the 
weight is about 1 ounce. 

Copyright 1910, by American School of Homo Economics. 



No table of weights to measure can be more than 
approximate, as different samples vary in weight for bulk. 
In truly scientific cookery quantities should be measured 
by weight. The table is useful for comparison, i. e., pow- 
dered sugar is more bulky than granulated and less so than 
confectioners', hence the greater sweetening power of gran- 
ulated; ordinary white flour (sifted) is less bulky than 
Graham flour, and so on. 

Experiments have shown that there may be a difference 
of 25 per cent in the weight of a "cup of flour" measured 
by different persons in different ways. One method is to 
sift the flour onto a square of glazed paper (or oil cloth) 
and pour it into the cup placed on another piece of paper — 
tap the side of the cup once with a knife and level. 

METHODS OF APPLYING HEAT. 

Broiling — Cooking before or over glowing coals or. under gas. 

Radiant heat. High temperature at first to sear outside, thus 

developing flavor and retaining juices; then lower temperature 

for the heat to penetrate and to avoid burning. 
Pan Broiling — Cooking on very hot griddle with only sufficient 

fat to prevent sticking. 
Roasting — Same as broiling, superseded by baking in oven. 
Baking — Cooking in oven by heated air and radiation. 

Slow oven, 270° — 350° F. 

Moderate oven, 350°— 400° F. 

Quick oven, 400°— 480° F. 

(Temperatures taken by a thermometer through the top of a 
gas stove oven.) 
Boiling — Cooking in boiling water, 212° F. 
Stewing — Cooking in water at temperature 160° to 180° F. 
Steaming — Cooking in contact with steam, 212° F. 
Dry Steaming, as in a double boiler, 192° F. 
Fryinc — Cooking by immersion in deep fat, approximately 350° F. 

for uncooked foods, 380° F. for cooked foods. The fat used : 

all lard, 2/3 lard and 1/3 beef suet, "cod fat" from the flank of 

beef, oil, "cottolene" and mixtures. Temperatures vary to 

produce similar effects with different fats. 
Sauteing — Cooking in small quantity of fat-soften called frying. 
Braising — Combination of stewing and baking. Meat is often first 

seared to develop flavor and prevent escape of juices. 
Fricasseeing — Combination of sauteing and stewing. 

. 4 



COMPOSITION OF RAW FOODS. 

Parts in 100 (approximate). 
Wheat Flour — 12 water, -12 gluten, 75 starch, 1 fat. 
Cornmea! — 12 water, 9 protein, 75 starch, 2 fat. 
Beans and Peas, dry— 13 water, 24 legumen, 60 starch, 2 fat. 
Potato, white — 78 water, 2 protein, 18 starch, trace of fat. 
Parsnips, Carrots, Turnips— 85 water, 1 proteid substance, 9 — 12 

starch and sugar, J / 2 fat. 
Banana — 75 water, 1 protein, 22 sugar and starch, y 2 fat 
Loin of Beef (avg.) — 60 water, 13 protein, 20 fat. 
Eggs — 74 water, 13 albumen, 10 fat. 
Egg, white — 86 water, 12 albumen, ~>c fat. 
Egg, yolk — -50 water, 16 albumen, 33 fit. 
Milk — 87 water, 3 casein, 5 sugar, 4 fat. 
Cheese- — 33 water, 26 casein, 33 fat. 
Nuts — 3 water, 20 protein, 15 starch, 55 fat. 
Butter — 12 water, 1 protein, 85 fat. 
Lard, Olive Oil— 100 fat. 

All the above foods except refined fats, sugar and starch, contain 
from Yi per cent to 1 per cent of mineral matter (salts), apparent 
when the foods are burned as ash. Butter and cheese "have 2 per 
cent or 3 per cent of common salt added. 

Protein foods are eggs, meats, fish, cheese. 

Starchy foods are the grains — wheat, rice, rye, oats, 
corn, etc., beans, peas, potatoes, chestnut. 

Fats are prominent in fat meats, nuts, cream, butter, 
lard. 

Cellulose or woody fiber is found in vegetables, unscreened 
flours and meals, and in fruits, especially when unripe. 

EFFECT OF HEAT ON FOOD MATERIALS. 

Starch absorbs water, swells and becomes partially soluble 
in water. This begins at about 150° F. Dry starch 
begins to change to dextrine at about 320° F. 

Cellulose itself is not affected by cooking, but the con- 
necting substances are softened and it may be separated. 

Albumen is hardened, "coagulated," and will no longer dis- 
solve in water. Temperature about 160° F. Other pro-^ 
teins, as the gluten of flour, casein of milk, legumen of 

. . 5 



peas and beans, myosin of meat, are hardened some- 
what. 
Gelatin is formed from gristle and connecting tissue of 
meat, and from bones, by long continued heating in 
the presence of water. 
' Sugar is not changed at low temperatures unless acid is 
present. It melts at about 365° and begins to caramelize 
at about 420° F. Sugar, boiled with acid, changes 
slowly to glucose or non-crystallizing sugar. 

Fat is not changed, except at a very high temperature, 
500° F. and over, when it is broken 'apart — "split" — 
into fatty acid and glycerine. Some of the glycerine is 
changed to "acrolein," which is very irritating to the 
mucus membrane, as is recognized by the smarting 
sensation given to the eyes and nose when fats are 
heated too hot. Butter begins to "split" at 374°F, lard 
at 446 ° F, olive oil at 630 F. 
Baking Powder, a mixture of cooking soda and an acid 
substance, as cream of tartar, or phosphates, or alum, 
undergoes chemical change ; the acid part of the mix- 
ture drives out the carbon dioxid gas of the soda and 
salts — as Rochelle salts, or phosphates, or alumina 
compounds — are formed. 
The heat of the oven expands any air or gas in the food, 
evaporates part of the water and drives out volatile sub- 
stances like alcohol. 

All these changes are, for the most part, physical rather 
than Chemical in their nature. For example, in a cake after 
baking, the sugar is still sugar, the starch is still starch, the 
fat is still fat, and the albumen is still albumen. All the 
materials have been blended, flavors having been developed 
through minor but complex chemical changes and a small 
proportion of the starch and sugar in the crust have been 
changed to dextrin and caramel. 

TEMPERATURE AND TIME OF COOKING. 

All food materials are poor conductors of heat — it takes 
time for the heat to penetrate. 

The correct time and temperature depends on (1) what 

6 



is. to be accomplished, (2) size to thickness, i. e., the extent 
of surface exposed to the heat, compared to the bulk. 

Foods with a large proportion of eggs require low tem- 
perature to prevent toughening. 

Starch requires nearly the temperature of boiling water 
for cooking. 

No food containing much water can be raised to a tem- 
perature above the boiling point — 212° F. Water gives off 
vapor at all temperatures, but at 212° F. steam forms rapidly 
and in so doing absorbs a large quantity of heat. No brown 
crust can be formed until the water from the surface is 
nearly all evaporated. A full oven in which much water 
vapor is being given off requires the application of more 
heat than when only one or two dishes are in it. 

In baking doughs, the larger the mass the lower must be 
the temperature in order that the heat may have time to 
penetrate to the interior and expand the gas and harden 
the albumen and gluten. If the temperature is too high at 
first, a crust forms, preventing the proper expansion of the 
loaf and hindering the penetration of the heat. 

Thin loaves, pieces of meat, etc., need much less time for 
cooking, because the heat pentrates quickly. Higher tem- 
peratures may be used, as the food is cooked before the 
surface begins to be burned. 

Mixtures containing much sugar or molasses burn easily. 

Vegetables containing much fiber need long boiling to 
soften them and separate the cellulose. Young, green vege- 
tables contain less fiber and require less time in cooking. 

Bearing all the above in mind, the following tables may 
serve as a general guide for beginners. When it is possible 
to do so, TEST. 



TIME TABLE. 

Boiling Baking 

Meats (4 to 5 lbs.) — 2 to 5 hours. Beef rib (medium, 4 lbs.) — 1 hour, 

(Tough meats should be kept 15 min. 

below boiling, 180° F.) Beef rib (medium, 8 lbs. ) — 2 hours, 

Fis.h (2 to 5 lbs. )— 30 to 45 min- 15 min. 

utes. Leg of lamb — 1 hour, 3 minutes. 

Ham (12 to 14 lbs.) — 4 to 5 Pork (rib) — 3 to 4 hours. 

hours. Veal (leg) — 3 to 4 hours. 

Corned Meat (6 to 8 lbs.) — 4 to 6 Chicken (3 to 4 lbs.) — 1 to 1 y 2 

hours. _ hours. 

Potatoes, white — 20 to 30 min- Turkey (S to 10 lbs.) — 2 to 3 

utes. hours. 
Potatoes, sweet — 15 to 25 min- 1 - Fish (3 to 4 lbs.) — 45 to 60 min- 
utes, utes. 
Peas, green — 20 to 60 minutes. Braised beef — 4 to 5 hours. 
Beans, string — % to 1 hour. Bread, white — 45 to 60 min. de- 
Beets, young — 45 minutes. pending on shape of loaf. 
Beets, old — 3 or 4 hours. Bread, Graham — 35 to 45 min- 
Onions — 40 to 60 minutes. utes. 

Cauliflower — 20 to 25 minutes. Quick Doughs — 8 to 15 minutes. 

Cabbage, cut up — 20 to 25 min- Cookies — 8 to 10 minutes. 

utes. Cake, thin — 15 to 30 minutes. 

Turnips, parsnips — 30 to 45 min- Cake, loaf — 40 to 60 minutes. 

utes. Pudding, Indian, etc. — 3 hours or 

Carrots — 1 hour ; less if young. more. 

Green corn — 8 to 15 minutes. Bread Pudding — 20 to 45 min., 

Spinach — 15 to 20 minutes. depending on shape and num- 

Squash — 20 to 30 minutes. ■ ber of eggs. 

Asparagus — 20 to 30 minutes. Pies — 30 to 45 minutes. 

Diced Vegetables — 10 to 20 min- Scalloped Dishes — 15 to 20 min. 

utes. Baked Beans — 12 hours or longer. 

OVEN TEMPERATURES. 

Enter at Keep at 

Roast Meats 480° F. 350° F. 

Fish 425° F. 350° F. 

Bread 440° F. 400° F. 

Popovers 480° F. 450° F. 

Cookies, Puff Paste 480° F. 450° F. 

Quick Doughs 480° F. 480° F. 

Ginger Bread and Molasses Mixture 380° F. 380° F. 

Plain Cake 380° F. 380° F. 

Sponge Cake 350° F. 340° F. 

Baked Custard 350° F. Higher in water 

These temperatures are for gas ovens, Avith thermometer through 
the top. An oven door "thermostat" should register from 50° to 
70° less. Few of these are accurate in their readings, but after being 
tested a few times they are useful in obtaining desired temperatures 
thereafter. 

8 



PROCESSES 

In addition to the methods or processes of applying heat, 
there are a few fundamental processes in cooking, i. e., 
thickening, leavening, shortening and flavoring. 

THICKENING AGENTS. 

The common thickening agents are flour, corn starch, eggs, 
gelatin, sea moss, junket for milk, and pectin of unripe 
fruits for jellies and freezing. 

One level tablespoon of flour will thicken one cup of 
liquid for soups. 

Two level tablespoons of flour will thicken one cup of 
drippings or other liquid for gravies and sauces. 

Five level tablespoons of browned flour will thicken one 
cup of liquid for gravy. 

The thickening power of corn starch is about twice that 
of flour. 

Four level tablespoons of corn starch will stiffen about 
one pint of liquid, as in corn starch pudding. 

One level tablespoon of granulated gelatin will stiffen 
about one pint of liquid, if cooled on ice. 

Two good sized eggs to one pint of milk make a custard — ■ 
one egg to a cup for soft custard or baked cup custard : 
three eggs to a pint of milk for a large mould custard. 

LEAVENING AGENTS. 

Doughs are made light or porous in the following ways: 

(a) By the production (and expansion by heat) of car- 

bon dioxid gas from the baking soda in baking 
powder or baking soda, combined with some acid 
substance. 

(b) From carbon dioxid gas produced by the growth 

of yeast — a plant. 

(c) From the expansion of entangled air, incorporated 

in the dough by means of beaten eggs, especially 
the white, and by the beating batters, and by 
► folding thick doughs. 

(d) From the expansion of water to steam. 
. • 9 



Two level teaspoons of baking powder are equivalent to 
one-half teaspoon of baking soda combined with one and 
one-fourth (i. e., slightly rounded) teaspoon of cream of tar- 
tar; or one cup of thick sour milk, or one cup of molasses,. 
in place of the cream of tartar. 

Two cups of flour made into a soft dough requires two to 
four level teaspoons of baking powder. 

Batters and muffin mixtures require somewhat more bak- 
ing powder to the flour than soft doughs. 

One teaspoon less of baking powder may be used for each 
egg added. 

The yeast plant grows best at 75° to 90° F. It changes 
sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxid gas. Flour contains 
a small proportion of sugar and during bread making some 
of the starch is changed into sugar, but the yeast begins to 
act more quickly if a little sugar or glucose is added at first. 
Salt and fats hinder the growth of the yeast. Low temper- 
atures stop the growth almost completely ; high temperatures 
kill the plant. 

When eggs are used as leavening agents, the whites are 
beaten separately, as they will hold much more air than the 
yolks, and folded into the mixture the last thing, breaking 
as few air cells as possible. 

When air is depended on for leavening agent, all mate- 
rials are kept as cold as possible. Cold air expands more 
on heating than warm air. In pastry making, heat also 
melts the fat, so that the dough cannot be handled. 

SHORTENING. 

Fats are added to doughs to make the product brittle — 
friable — "short," and to enrich the mixture. The fat coun- 
teracts the adhesive properties of the gluten and starch 
in flour. 

Pastry flours contain less gluten than bread flours and 
so require less shortening. 

Butter and oleomargarine contain about one-eighth water 
and salt, and thus have less shortening powers than lard, 
drippings, cottolene, and the like, which contain no water. 

Two cups of flour (eight ounces) made into puff paste 
requires eight ounces (one cup) of shortening. 

10 



Two cups of flour in ordinary pie crust requires four 
ounces (one-half cup) of shortening. 

Two cups of flour in cookies requires four ounces (one- 
half cup) of shortening, or less. 

Two cups of flour in cake requires about three ounces of 
shortening. 

Two cups of flour in short cake requires two ounces (one- 
fourth cup) of shortening, or more. 

Two cups of flour in tea biscuits requires one-half to one 
ounce (one to two tablespoons) or more of shortening. 

In yeast doughs less shortening is used — from one-half 
to an ounce to two cups of flour. The tenacity of the gluten 
is required to hold the carbon dioxid gas slowly formed by 
the yeast, hence too much shortening prevents proper rising. 

Shortening for batters may be melted and mixed in, but in 
doughs which are to be rolled — pastry, cookies, short-cake, 
biscuit, etc. — the fat should be cold and hard and cut into 
the flour with a knife, or rubbed in with the tips of the 
fingers. 

FLAVORING. 

The flavoring materials most commonly used are salt, 
sugar, spices and extracts. The fine art of cookery consists 
of developing the full natural flavor of the foods themselves 
and in combining them in pleasing ways. 

The amount of salt to be used -depends, in general, on the 
total volume of the food. When food tastes salty, too much 
has been used. A safe proportion is one teaspoon salt to 
one quart of liquid in soups, cereals, sauces, or to one quart 
of flour in doughs. When the flavors are delicate, some- 
what less salt is used, and with strong flavors, somewhat 
more. Cakes in which much salt butter is used do not need 
more salt. 

The quantity of sugar to be used depends on the taste 
desired. Foods served frozen need more sweetening than 
when at ordinary temperatures. On the other hand, foods 
that are served warm taste somewhat sweeter than when at 
ordinary temperature. 



11 



RECIPES 

The following recipes were furnished by Miss Anna Barrows, 
teacher of cookery, Columbia University, author of Principles of 
Cookery, or adapted by the editor from the Home Science Cook 
Book,* to which the reader is referred for a full collection of recipes. 

WATER: EXTRACTING FLAVOR. 
Tea. 

Heat an earthenware teapot with hot water. Empty it 
and put in one teaspoon of tea for each measuring cup of 
fresh boiling water. Let it stand in a warm place two or 
three minutes. Strain and serve at once. If the tea boils or 
stands too long with the leaves it is unfit to drink. 

Coffee. 

Use one-fourth cup of coffee for one pint of water. 
Place fine ground coffee in^strainer in the coffee pot; add 
actually boiling water slowly, a spoonful or two at a time. 
Cover between additions Pour through a second time if 
desired stronger. 

Or : Mix one-fourth cap coffee and one teaspoon beaten 
egg with a little cold water, add the remainder of one pint 
of water boiling hot. Let it boil up, pour from the spout 
and turn back into the pot and leave for ten minutes where 
it will keep hot but not boil. 

Stock. 

Stock is the basis for all soups, except milk or cream 
soups, to which it is sometimes added. From a pint to a 
quart of cold salted water is used to each pound of meat 
and bone, both of which should be in small pieces. Let 
stand one hour, heat slowly and simmer gently for four 
hours or more, strain and cool quickly. Remove the hard- 
ened fat before using. About a cup of mixed vegetables — 
carrot, onion, parsley, celery, etc. — may be added during 
the last hour. Mixed herbs and spices, as bay-leaf, blade of 
mace, two or three cloves and pepper corns, may be tied 
in cheese cloth and removed from the liquor when sufficient 
flavor has been extracted. 

*Horne Science Cook Book, by Anna Barrows and Mary J. Lincoln, 2S1 pages; 
published by Whitcomb and Barrows, Boston. Price, from the School, $1.00 post- 
paid. 

12 



Bouillon — usually made from beef with little bone and 
no vegetables. Brown Stock — some of the meat and a part 
of the vegetables browned in hot fat or marrow. White 
Stock — made from chicken, veal, or fish; no flavoring 
which gives color added. Macaroni, Vermicelli, Noodle, 
Rice, Barley Soup and the like — cook about one-fourth 
cup of dry material until tender and add a quart of hot 
stock, or use cooked left-overs. Julienne Soup — one-half 
cup mixed cooked vegetables cut in cubes, strips or fancy 
shapes, to one quart of stock. 

RESTORING WATER. 
Dried Fruits and Vegetables. 

Pick over, cover with cold water, leave for half an hour, 
then wash thoroughly, inspecting each portion and drain. 
Again cover with cold water and soak 12 to 24 hours, and 
then cook slowly until tender. Add sugar if desired for sauce 
when nearly done, or use like fresh fruit for pies, short- 
cake, etc. 

Prunes, apricots, peaches, apples, pears and vegetables 
are treated in this way. 

THICKENING. 
Sauces. 

Methods of mixing: (1) Melt butter (or other fat) in 
saucepan, stir in dry flour, cook and stir until frothy all 
over, then add liquid slowly, hot or cold, while stirring ; 
cook again until thick, stirring until smooth. 

(2) Rub butter and flour together and stir into the warm 
liquid in a double boiler, then cook. and stir until thick and 
smooth. 

(3) When cream or less butter is used, rub the flour 
smoothly with a little cold liquid and stir into the remain- 
der, which should be hot, and cook in double boiler until 
smooth. Then add butter and seasoning. 

Thin Sauce : One level tablespoon fat, one tablespoon 
flour and one cup liquid, one-fourth teaspoon salt, few grains 
pepper (white). 

Suitable for creamed potatoes, macaroni, toast, etc. 

13 



Medium Sauce : Two tablespoons fat, two tablespoons 
flour and one cup of liquid. Seasoning. 

For general use with fish and vegetables. 

Thick Sauce : Two to four tablespoons of fat and three 
or four of flour for each cup of liquid, either milk or milk 
and stock. 

This is the basis of souffles and croquettes. 

White Sauce may be varied by different flavors and gar- 
nishes, such as capers, celery, mushrooms, oysters, lobsters, 
etc., etc. 

Tomato for the liquid in sauce may be seasoned with 
onion, herbs and spices, by cooking them with it for a short 
time before straining. 

Spanish Sauce is tomato sauce with the addition of 
onion and peppers. 

Dutch or Hollandaise Sauce: To one cup white or 
milk sauce add one or two beaten egg yolks and cook in 
double boiler like custard. Flavor with one tablespoon lemon 
juice. 

Brown Sauce for Roast or Pan Broiled Meats : After 
placing the meat on the platter drain out any fat in the pan 
and put some water to soak off the browned juice and flour. 

For each cup of gravy put two tablespoons of the fat in 
a saucepan and brown two tablespoons of flour in it ; then 
add one cup of the water from the pan. Cook like white 
sauce. Season as desired with salt and pepper. 

Or, Melt and brown two tablespoons of butter in a sauce- 
pan ; add two or three tablespoons of flour and continue 
the browning. When coffee color, add one cup water or 
stock or milk. 

Welsh Rarebit.* 

Heat one-half cup of cream in the blazier of a chafing dish 
or in a skillet, add one tablespoon of butter creamed with, one 
teaspoon of corn-starch, one-fourth teaspoon of salt, and a 
few grains of cayenne. When thick, set over the hot water 
or heat very slowly and add one-half pound of soft mild 
cheese cut up fine and one-half teaspoon of mushroom ket- 

*From Home Science Cook Book. 

14 



chup or Worcestershire sauce or one-fourth teaspoon of 
mustard. Stir until the cheese is' melted and pour over crack- 
ers or thin toast. 

Cream Soups. 

Cook the vegetable till soft and rub through a strainer, 
using all or a part of the water in which the vegetable is 
cooked, except with potatoes. Combine with an equal quan- 
tity of white sauce or white stock or mixture of the two. 
Season. If too thick, add hot milk. Beaten egg may be 
added just before serving if too thin. 

Asparagus, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Corn, Cucum- 
bers, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Onions, Spinach, Summer 
Squash, Turnips, Water Cress. 

Cream of Peas. Beans, Lentil, Potato and other thick 
soups have half quantity or less of white sauce added to 
keep the materials from settling. 

Cream of Chicken, Fish, etc., made of stock from bone, 
skin and other inedible portions combined with about equal 
quantities of hot white sauce seasoned in various ways. 

Corn Starch Blanc Mange. 

Blend two tablespoons cornstarch with an equal bulk of 
milk, heat remainder of one cup milk in double boiler. Stir 
the hot milk into the moistened starch, return to double 
boiler, stir on stove till thick, put over water, cover and 
cook twenty to thirty minutes or longer. Add two table- 
spoons sugar, a bit of salt, flavor and put in moulds. 

Variations : For liquid use part thin cream and part 
strong coffee, or all fruit juice. 

Put layers of raw or cooked fruit alternately with the 
blanc mange in the moulds. 

Blend two tablespoons of cocoa with the sugar before it 
is added to the cornstarch mixture. 

Irish Moss Blanc Mange.* 

Soak one-half cup of Irish moss in cold water, pick over, 
wash and cook with one quart of milk in double boiler for 
about half an hour. Strain, add a teaspoon of vanilla or 

*Frorc Home Science Cook Book. 

15 



other flavor and one-fourth teaspoon of salt. Put in moulds. 
Or, cook moss in one pint of water, strain and add one pint 
of scalded thin cream. 

Use of Gelatine. 

One level tablespoon granulated gelatine will stiffen about 
one pint liquid. Different makes of sheet, shredded, granu- 
lated and powdered gelatine may be used interchangeably 
by weight. A larger proportion of gelatine is required for 
large moulds than for small. A little salt improves most 
gelatine combinations. 

Soak gelatine in cold water until soft, dissolve by adding 
boiling liquid, sweeten and flavor with coffee, lemon, or 
other fruit juices and pulp. Keep the proportions of gelatine 
and total liquid right. A little more gelatine is required in 
hot weather, unless ice is used. 

Such jellies may be served with whipped cream or boiled 
custard. Every package of gelatine is accompanied with 
directions for its use. 

Fruit Pudding. 

Make a jelly flavored with fruit juice, slightly increasing 
the proportion of gelatine. As it begins to stiffen, combine 
nearly an equal amount of fruit with it. With each half 
cup of jelly, may be used one date, one-half fig, two or three 
almonds, one-fourth orange, one-fourth banana, etc. 

Snow Pudding or Fruit Sponge. 

Beat one egg stiff and add one cup half stiffened jelly 
gradually. Or, beat the jelly till frothing and blend the 
stiff egg with that. Mould and chill. Serve with soft cus- 
tard sauce made of the egg yolks. 

Bavarian Cream. 

Stiffen a soft custard, or fruit juice, or combination of 
the two, with .gelatine. As it begins to stiffen, fold in stiff 
whipped cream. 

Baked Custards. 

Scald one pint milk. Beat two eggs till smooth, add 
one-fourth cup sugar, a bit of salt, and blend with the hot 
milk. Strain into buttered molds, set in a pan of hot water 

16 



and bake until firm. Put a thin knife blade in center of 
custard and if done no milk will adhere to the blade as it 
is removed. 

The same proportions may be used for custard pies, or 
may be combined with cooked rice for a pudding. 

Soft Custard. 

Use the same proportions as for baked custards, or three 
egg yolks in place of two whole eggs. Pour hot milk over 
the beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Sugar may be added 
before or after cooking the custard. 

Return milk and egg to the double boiler and cook, 
stirring all the time until the custard thickens and coats the 
spoon, three minutes or longer. If cooked too long the 
custard will curdle. Cool quickly. Flavor before serving. 

Egg Timbals. 

Use only one-fourth to one-half cup liquid, milk or stock, 
for each egg. Flavor with salt, pepper, etc. Cook like 
custards, turn from mold and serve hot with tomato sauce. 

Thickened Custards. 

Filling for Cream Puffs, Layer Cake, Sauces, Ices, etc. 

Make a smooth paste with one-fourth cup flour and a 
little milk and scald the remainder of one pint of milk. 
When it is hot, blend carefully with the flour and cook in 
a double boiler twenty minutes or more. Then combine 
with the beaten yolks of two or three eggs and stir steadily 
while cooking three to five minutes longer. Take from the 
fire and sweeten and flavor according to its use. For 
filling for a layer cake one-fourth cup sugar may serve, 
while for cream puffs one-half cup or more will be needed. 

The same foundation may be combined with an equal 
quantity of cream or of fruit juice, or of each, made very 
sweet and frozen as ice cream. 

Frozen Desserts — General Directions. 

All mixtures must be sweeter and more highly flavored 
than if served without freezing. Cool thoroughly before 
packing in ice and salt. Use three measures fine cracked 
ice to one measure of salt. 

17 



Lemon Ice. 

Mix in proportion of the juice of one lemon, one-fourth 
cup of sugar and one cup of water. Or, make a quantity 
Of syrup, 4 measures of sugar to 2 of water, and use 4 
measures of syrup to I of fruit juice. Strain into a tin can 
or .straight glass jar with a close cover. Pack this in a 
pail or pan with ice (or snow) and salt. Turn the can 
around and occasionally" scrape down the ice which forms 
inside. Use other fruit juices in the same way: — orange, 
pineapple, raspberry — to which lemon juice is usually added, 
grape juice or acid jelly, 

Pineapple Sherbet.* 

One can of grated pineapple, one cup of sugar, juice of 
two lemons, one tablespoon of powdered gelatine, one quart 
of water or milk. 

Ice Cream. 

Scald thin cream in double boiler, dissolve sugar in 
the proportion of one cup to a quart, add flavoring when 
cool — extract, one tablespoon to a quart. This is "Phila- 
delphia" ice cream. Thickened custard made very sweet 
and highly flavored is often called "New York" ice cream. 

Mousse or Parfait. 

Mix together one cup thick cream,* two tablespoons pow- 
dered sugar^ and flavoring. Whip cream with egg beater, 
skimming off froth as it rises and draining on a sieve. 
Return liquid to bowl and whip until no more froth will 
rise. Turn drained froth into a mould ; cover, and bind the 
lid with a strip of muslin dipped into melted fat. Bury in 
ice and salt for three to four hours before serving. 

Junket. 

The active principle in junket is rennin or "rennet," which 
is extracted from the lining of calf's stomach. This will 
coagulate or thicken warm milk but nothing else. Its prop- 
erties are destroyed at the boiling temperature and it has 
no action in the cold. Heat two cups of milk to body tem- 
perature, 99 degrees, powder junket tablet and dissolve in 
a little water, add one-third cup of sugar dissolved in one- 

'From Home Science Cook Book. 

18 



third cup of warm water and flavoring extract. Pour into 
serving dishes and keep warm until set. Cool. 

Caramel syrup or maple syrup may be used in place of 
sugar. Chocolate may be added or beaten egg yolks with 
beaten whites on top. 
Jellies. 

Pectin is the gelatinizing agent in jellies and jams. It is 
a substance similar to starch and is found in most fruits 
and some vegetables. It is most abundant when fruit is just 
ripe or nearly so. The making of good jelly depends on 
having the correct proportion of fruit juice, sugar, and 
acid and on boiling. The density of the mixture should 
be between 24 degrees and 30 degrees as measured by the 
syrup gage at the boiling temperature, and the boiling 
point 217 degrees F. or 103 degrees C. Long boiling alters 
the gelatinizing properties of pectin. Too great a propor- 
tion of sugar and violent toiling cause the sugar to crys- 
tallize in the jelly. 

Pick over and clean, or pare, core and cut up large fruits, 
heat with or without water and cook until very soft. Juicy 
fruits like currants and grapes need no added water, while 
fruits like apples should be barely covered with water. 
Strain the juice from the pulp through cheese-cloth or 
flannel. To the strained juice granulated sugar is added 
usually in the proportion of pint to pint, but good jelly may 
be made with half the volume of sugar to juice. The pro- 
portion depends on the acid and sugar in the fruit. Heat 
slowly to dissolve sugar, and boil gently until proper density 
is obtained, skimming froth that rises. If no syrup gauge 
is used, test by dropping a little on a cold plate to see if 
the jellying point_ is reached. Pour into sterilized glasses 
and when set cover with melted parafhne. 

The pulp may be squeezed in the straining bag to get a 
marmalade or even a second quality jelly: or, better, heat 
pulp again with a small amount of water and strain without 
pressure. This process may be repeated. Boil down some- 
what and add sugar and finish as before. Jelly may be made 
from parings and cores. 

As the presence of acid is essential to make the materials 
jellv, lemon or currant juice is usually added to sweet flavored 

19 



fruits. (Summary of the result of experiments made by Dr. 
Goldthwaite at University of Illinois and Miss White at 
University of Chicago). 

Soft Cooked Eggs. 

Place eggs in one cup of boiling water to each egg in a 
saucepan, cover and remove from the fire. 

From five to ten minutes will be required according to 
the firmness desired. 

Or. put one egg in one cup of cold water and bring slowly 
to the boiling point. Then remove the egg. 
Hard Cooked Eggs. 

Keep eggs in water just below the boiling point for thirty 
minutes. The yolks should be dry enough to mash easily. 
Such eggs. are suitable for salads — may be warmed in any 
well flavored sauce, may be stuffed by blending the yolks 
with chopped meat or nuts or seasoning of any kind. 

THICKENING AND LEAVENING. 
Omelets. 

There are but two types of omelet to which special names 
are given from the garnish added. 
French Omelet. 

Beat an egg slightly. Add one tablespoon water or milk, 
season with salt and a dash of pepper. Turn into a hot 
buttered frying pan, which must be perfectly clean and 
smooth. Lift cooked portions with a fork. Shake the pan 
to prevent adhesion. When all is firm, fold and serve at 
oilce. 
Puffy Omelet. 

Separate white and yolk of one egg. Beat white stiff, 
add yolk and blend together. Add salt, pepper and one 
tablespoon of water or milk. Turn into buttered pan and ■ 
place where it will cook slowly and evenly. When firm, 
fold and serve. 

Two tablespoons of white sauce or bread, softened in 
milk may be used instead of one of milk or water. Chopped 
parsley, or other vegetable, any nice bits of meat or fish, 
cheese, jelly, etc., may be folded into the omelet just before 
serving. 

20 



Meringues or Kisses. 

Beat egg whites with a speck of cream of tartar. When 
stiff fold in one-fourth cup powdered sugar for each white. 
Flavor slightly, drop on ungreased paper, and bake slowly 
until dry, thirty minutes or more. 

For soft meringues on puddings, use half as much sugar. 
Fruit Souffles. 

For each stiffly beaten egg white fold in one-fourth cup 
thick, sweetened fruit pulp, or marmalade, or jam. Partly 
fill buttered molds, and bake like custards, until firm. 

Serve with soft custard as a sauce. 
Sponge Cakes. 

Equal measures of eggs, sugar and flour, or the weight 
of the eggs in sugar, and half of the weight of the eggs in 
flour. This also applies to the use of egg whites only as 
in angel cakes. 

In other words, two large or three small eggs rightly 
blended with one-half cup each of sugar and flour and 
carefully flavored and baked slowly will produce such a 
cake as that shown on page 65. 

The yolks of the eggs should be beaten until thicker and 
lighter colored than when beginning the process. To them 
add the sugar, one or two teaspoons of lemon juice and a 
bit of grated rind. Over the whites of the eggs sprinkle 
a bit of salt and beat until stiff. Fold them into the yolks 
and gradually sift the half cup of flour over, blending care- 
fully without stirring. Put into the pans and bake in a 
gentle heat for twenty minutes, if in small cakes ; twice as 
long if in one mass. 
Cream Puffs. 

In a saucepan heat one-half cup water with two ounces 
of butter or less. When boiling hot mix in one-half cup 
of flour and continue to stir while it cooks into a smooth 
mass. Cool till it will not cook eggs and mix in one egg 
and a second and beat the whole vigorously with the spoon. 
Shape on greased pan some distance from each other in 
six to twelve mounds and bake about thirty minutes ac- 
cording to the size. They should be light and dry when 
taken from the pan, otherwise they will shrink and be 
heavy. 

21 



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LEAVENING AND SHORTENING. 
Biscuit.* 

Two cups sifted flour, three teaspoons of baking powder, 
one-half teaspoon of salt ; sift together, rub in one table- 
spoon of shortening — butter, oleo, lard or drippings. Mix 
as soft as can be handled with about two-thirds cup of milk 
or water. Turn onto a floured board, roll. gently to three 
quarters inch thick, cut and bake. Pastry flour makes more 
delicate biscuit than bread flour. 

Dumplings for Stews : Omit shortening, add milk until 
dough may be dropped from the spoon into boiling stew. 
Cover and cook rapidly 10 minutes. 

Shortcake: Rub in one-fourth cup of butter in biscuit 
mixture. Cut like biscuit for individual shortcakes or use 
a square pan and divide with knife dipped in melted butter 
so that portions may .separate readily after baking. 

Use shortcake mixture for covering to meat pies, apple 
dumplings, etc. 

Muffins.* 

Sift together two cups of sifted flour, two teaspoons of, 
baking powder, one-half teaspoon of salt, and one-half 
tablespoon of sugar, add one tablespoon of melted shorten- 
ing, one beaten egg and one cup of milk. Mix thoroughly 
and bake in quick oven. 

Blueberry Muffins : Use a little less milk in muffin 
mixture and add one cup of blueberries and a little more 
sugar. Chopped apples or other fruit may be used in same 
way. 

Tea Muffins : Use one-fourth cup each of sugar and 
shortening and two or three eggs in the muffin mixture. 

Graham Drop Cakes.* 

Sift together one and one-half cups of graham meal, 
one-half teaspoon -each of salt and soda, one-fourth cup of 
brown sugar. Mix into a stiff batter with one scant cup 
of sour milk. Drop from spoon on buttered pan, or into 
gem pans and bake in a quick oven 15 minutes. 

*From Home Science Cook Book. 

23 



Cereal Gems.* 

Use even quantities of flour and softened cooked break- 
fast food, one teaspoon of baking powder to a cup of ma- 
terial, add sufficient milk to make a batter which will drop 
from the spoon. Mix thoroughly and bake in hot buttered 
gem pans. 

Boston Brown "Bread. 

Sift together one cup of cornmeal, one cup of rye meal, 
or entire wheat flour, one teaspoon of soda, one-half tea- 
spoon salt. Mix with one-half cup molasses and one cup 
sour milk. If not soft enough to smooth out in the bowl, 
add a little water. Put in greased tins with tight cover 
and steam three hours or more. 

Corn Cake.* 

Sift together three-quarter cups each of cornmeal and 
flour, one-half teaspoon each of salt and soda, one table- 
spoon of sugar. Mix with one beaten egg and one cup of 
thick sour milk or cream. Bake in muffin pans or single 
pan, twenty to thirty minutes, according to thickness. 

The cornmeal may be scaided with an equal volume of 
boiling water, left to cool, or over night, and more shorten- 
ing, two eggs and a little sugar may be added. 

Griddle Cakes.* 

Into one pint of sifted flour mix one-half teaspoon of 
salt, three teaspoons of baking powder and one teaspoon 
of sugar. Beat two eggs until very light, turn into one cup 
of milk without stirring, add the mixture to the flour with 
two tablespoonsful of melted butter; beat well, and add 
more milk to make a batter about like thick cream. Beat 
vigorously, especially before each frying. 

Fry on hot griddle, grease with rind of pork or ham. 
Drop batter from end of the spoon, making circular cakes. 
Turn when full of bubbles. 

Waffles. 

Are cooked on a waffle iron, using the griddle cake mix- 
ture. 

24 



Plain Cake ("Lightning" Cake). 

Place the flour sifter in the mixing bowl and put in 
it one and one-half cups of flour, three-fourths cup of fine 
granulated sugar, two level teaspoons of baking powder, 
one-half teaspoon of salt. Sift into the bowl. 

In the measuring cup, melt one-fourth cup of butter (or 
oleo), break in two eggs," fill up the cup with milk. Add 
one-half teaspoon flavoring extract or saitspoon of spice. 
Mix with the dry ingredients and beat well two or three 
minutes. Bake in sheet or greased muffin tins in quick 
oven. 

Yariations : Add two tablespoons of cocoa, or an ounce 
of melted chocolate. Use one cup caramel or maple syrup 
in place of sugar. Leave out part of the sugar for Cottage 
Pudding. 
Cookies.* 

Rub one-half cup of butter until creamy, gradually add 
one cup of sugar, then put in one egg and beat together 
thoroughly. Next add, alternately, one-half cup of milk 
or water and one pint of flour, in which two teaspoons of 
baking powder have been sifted. Use enough more flour 
to make, a soft dough, from one to two cupfuls, according 
to the nature of the flour, roll out thin, cut with a cookie 
cutter or in fancy shapes, and bake in a quick oven. 

Variations : Before all the flour is added, divide into 
four portions; to one add one teaspoon of lemon extract, 
to another one-half cup of desiccated cocoanut ; one-half 
ounce of chocolate melted, or a teaspoon of cocoa, sifted in 
with a little flour; to the fourth, one teaspoon of mixed 
spice and one-half cup of chopped raisins, etc. Or flavor 
the portions with ginger, almond with chopped almonds on 
top, or with dates, figs, nuts. Or use less flour and drop 
from a spoon for a soft thick cake. 
Gingerbread.* 

Sift together two cups of flour, one-half teaspoon each 
of salt and soda and one teaspoon of ginger. Mix with one 
cup of molasses and two tablespoons of fat softened in one- 
half cup of hot water. Bake twenty minutes or more in a 
moderate oven. 

25 



Doughnuts.* 

Sift together four cups of flour, one teaspoon of salt, 
three teaspoons of baking powder, one-half teaspoon of 
mixed spice and one cup of sugar. Mix with one egg and 
one cup of milk. 

Sour milk and soda may be used in place of baking pow- 
der. For richer doughnuts, two eggs and one tablespoon of 
butter may be used. 

Plain Pastry.* 

Sift two cups of flour with one-half teaspoon of salt and 
cut in with a knife, one-fourth cup or two ounces of short- 
ening/ Mix with about one-half cup of ice water into' a 
stiff dough. Roll out and spread with one ounce of butter, 
fold and add a second ounce of butter in the same way, 
making one-half cup of shortening in all. For upper crusts 
more shortening may be rolled in if desired. Keep every- 
thing as cool as possible. The lightness of the pastry de- 
pends on the amount and coolness of the air enclosed and 
the flakiness on the number of layers of fat and dough pro- 
duced by folding and rolling. 

YEAST DOUGHS— GENERAL PROPORTIONS. 



Bread 

Muffins 

Rolls 

Fancy Rolls 

Buns 

Coffee Cake 



Sugar 


Short- 
ening 


Liquid 


Yeast 
Cake 


Flour 


i tsp. 


y 2 oz. + 


i cup 


Ya to i 


3 cups 


i tbs. 


l /l oz. 


i cup 


% Jo i 


2 Clips 


i tbs. 


I oz. 


i cup 


Yx to i 


3 cups 


2 tbs. 


2 OZ. 


i cup 


•Mtoi 


3 cups + 


Y cup 


2 OZ. 


I cup 


Ktoi 


3 cups+ 


Yx cup 


2 OZ. 


Y* cu p 


Ya to i 


2 CUps 



Eggs 



i + 



i + 



2 + 



26 



Bread — For Each Loaf — Short Process.* 

One cup of scalded milk, or half milk and half water, 
one-half teaspoon each of salt and sugar, from one-fourth 
to one whole Gake of yeast according to time, softened in 
lukewarm water, and about three cups of bread flour. Mix 
thoroughly and knead until the dough is smooth and springy. 
The dough should be warm. Let rise till double, shape, 
put in pan, rise again and bake. If preferred, shape into 
a dozen to two dozen rolls. 

Entire Wheat Bread. 

Scald one cup of milk ; in it melt one teaspoon of butter 
and half a teaspoon each of sugar and salt. When luke- 
warm,- add half a cake of compressed yeast, softened in 
one-fourth cup of warm water. Stir in between two and 
three cups of flour to make a dough stiff enough to hold 
its shape. Mix thoroughly with a knife, but do not knead 
it until after it has risen to double its bulk, then shape into 
small loaves, let rise until double in size, bake in hot oven 
about half an hour. 

One-fourth cup of molasses may be used in place of the 
•sugar if preferred. 

Rolls — Long Process.* 

In a bowl put one tablespoon of butter or lard, one table- 
spoon of sugar, one teaspoon of salt, and one pint of scald- 
ing hot milk. When cool, add one-quarter yeast cake 
softened in a little water, and three cups of flour. In the 
morning, or when light, add to this sponge about three cups 
more of flour, or enough to knead. Let rise till double in 
bulk, then shape, put in pans, rise again, and bake. 

Muffins : Add two or three eggs to the sponge, but no 
more flour. Bake in muffin pans. 

Coffee Cake.* 

Work into one pint of light dough, two-thirds cup of 
white sugar, one egg, and two ounces of melted butter. 
Mix thoroughly to a creamy, smooth batter by beating. 

*From Home Science Cook Book. 

27 



Pour into shallow pan and let rise again. Sift sugar and 
cinnamon over the top and bake in a quick oven. Serve 
warm. 



Use of Stale Bread. 

Bread Cases. 

Cut slices of bread two inches thick and three inches, 
long. Remove part of crumbs from the center, leaving a 
hollow space. Spread with butter and brown in the oven. 

Croutons. 

Cut stale bread into slices about one-third inch thick and 
then in cubes. Bake in moderate oven until golden brown. 

Dry Crumbs. 

Crusts remaining from croutons, etc., should be dried 
in the oven, rolled and sifted, the fine ones used for cro- 
quettes, etc., the coarser for stuffing or escalloped dishes. 

Cracker crumbs may be used in the same way. 

Buttered Crumbs. 

Melt butter and stir in crumbs till the butter is evenly 
distributed. 

One ounce of butter for one cup of crumbs is a fair pro- 
portion. Buttered crumbs seasoned and moistened are used 
for stuffing peppers, tomatoes, fish, poultry, etc. 

Filling for Fish or Fowl. 

One cup of crumbs will serve for a small fish or chicken, 
while' a large fowl or turkey will require two or three. 
With each cup of crumbs blend one ounce or more of butter 
or chopped fat salt pork, one teaspoon parsley or mixed 
herbs, one-half teaspoon salt and a little pepper. Moisten 
with milk, water or stock. For fish season also with lemon 
and onion juice. 

Mashed potato or chestnuts may be used instead of 
crumbs. ^ 

28 



Fat— To Try Out and Clarify. 

Cut the fat — beef suet or flank fat — in small pieces, re- 
moving skin and bits of lean meat. Cover with cold salted 
water and leave in a cold place for several hours. Drain 
off the water, and if possible soak again, and drain. Cook 
slowly in moderate oven or in upper part of the double 
boiler till the fat has melted and the scraps are crisp, but 
not brown. Strain and cool. Slices of raw potato or pieces 
of charcoal cooked in the fat before straining will absorb 
any impurities. 

Beef, pork and chicken fat may be combined. Surplus fat 
from roast beef, corned beef, etc., may be added. 

Such fat may be used for shortening muffins, ginger- 
bread, etc., for greasing pans, for some sauces and soups, 
or for deep frying. Mutton fat may be prepared to add to 
fry fat. 

Fat from bacon, ham or sausages should be reserved for 
hashes or warming over potatoes. 

MEATS. 
Broiled Meats, Chops, Steaks. 

The meat should be cut in convenient pieces, and some 
of the bone, gristle and fat removed. Sections one inch 
thick will be more juicy than thinner ones. Wipe the meat 
with a damp cloth, grease the broiler or pan with a piece of 
the fat, or brush melted fat over the meat. Place the meat 
where intense heat will reach it at first, under the gas flame, 
or in a hot pan on top of the stove, or over hot coals. Turn 
often at first, every half minute if directly over the coals, 
until well seared and browned on both sides, then move it 
farther away from the fire so the heat may penetrate to 
the center without burning the outside. 

As the meat is seared on the surface the juices are driven 
towards the center, and expanding with the heat tend to 
make the surface of the meat puff outward. This is very 
apparent between the wires of a double broiler and probably 
is the best indication that the meat is cooked. 

Steaks one inch thick should cook in five or six minutes 
to be rare, eight or ten minutes to be well done, the time 

29 



varying according to the method of cooking and intensity 
of heat. Mutton chops may be served rare, lamb usually 
well done, veal and pork always must be thoroughly cooked. 

Broiled meats should be served at once on a hot dish 
and with slight seasoning beside their own juices. If kept 
hot the cooking is continued too far. 

Fish and chicken may be partially broiled and then fin- 
ished in the oven. Apply the direct heat mainly to the cut 
inside surface, as the skin burns easily. 

Roast Meats. 

Trim, wipe, score the fat portion and rub salt into that, 
place on rack in pan, sprinkle flour all over it, put skin side 
down. Have oven very hot at first to sear outside quickly 
to prevent escape of juice, then reduce heat. Baste occa- 
sionally as needed with the fat which cooks out into the 
pan, and turn the roast over to cook it evenly. 

If there is danger of burning put some water in the pan 
after the meat is seared, but this is not necessary if heat of 
oven is lowered. 

A sirloin or rib roast weighing five pounds will require 
about one hour, or longer, if it is to be well done. A surer 
rule for time of cooking is to allow fifteen minutes for each 
inch in thickness, or twenty minutes if wanted well done. 

Braised Beef. 

Use a thick section of the lower part of the round, two 
to four pounds. Trim, wipe and sprinkle with flour, season 
with salt and pepper. Brown under the gas or in hot fat. 
Put in casserole, partly cover with water or brown or 
tomato sauce. Cover closely and cook in very slow oven 
three to five hours. 

Meat Stew. 

Neck or breast of lamb of veal or inexpensive cuts of 
beef may be used in this way. Cover bones with cold water 
and heat slowly. Cut meat in convenient pieces, roll in 
flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry bit's of fat, then 

30 



brown sections of prepared meat and onion if desired. Put 
meat in kettle with bones when water is hot. 

When nearly tender add carrot, turnip, peppers, or celery 
cut in small shapes about one cup each to one pound of 
meat. 

Potatoes pared and cut in quarters may be added 20 to 30 
minutes before serving, and dumplings 10 minutes before 
serving. 

Escalloped Fish or Meat. 

Equal measures of cooked minced meat, bread crumbs 
and white or tomato sauce ; or, for one measure of meat, 
half as much sauce and one-fourth as much buttered crumbs. 
(Boiled rice or macaroni may be used instead of crumbs.) 

Remove all uneatable portions from meat and mince or 
chop. Put in layers in a buttered dish, having crumbs for 
the last. Bake until heated through and brown on top. 
Fish or Meat Loaf, or Timbales. 

Remove skin, gristle and bone from meat or fish and 
mince fine. Combine with an equal quantity of bread 
crumbs or stuffing from a baked fish or roast fowl, season as 
desired, moisten with milk or stock. Add one beaten egg 
or more to each pint of the mixture. Pack in buttered 
moulds, steam or bake until firm in center. Turn out and 
serve with sauce. 
Meat Loaf in Rice. 

Line a mould with well-cooked rice. Fill with the meat 
prepared as above. Cover with rice. Steam an hour. Serve 
with tomato sauce. 

Fish Balls. 

In a stew pan put one pint potatoes, pared and quartered, 
and one cup salt cod fish which has been picked apart in 
cold water. Cover with boiling water and cook until the 
potatoes are soft. Drain in a colander till no water can 
be shaken out. Return to pan, mash thoroughly, add salt 
if needed, a shake of pepper, one teaspoon butter, one raw 
egg, and beat all together. Shape on a spoon or in small 
balls and fry in deep fat, hot enough to brown them in one 
minute. Drain on soft paper. 

31 



CEREALS AND VEGETABLES. 

Breakfast Foods. 

Usual proportions — one-half cup flakes or one-fourth cup 
granules to one cup water, one-fourth teaspoon salt to one 
cup water. 

The denser the cereal, the more water and the longer the 
time required. 

Bring water to boiling point in upper part of double 
boiler, placed directly on the stove. 

Pour cereal slowly into boiling water, stirring constantly. 
Let boiling continue about five minutes till mixture begins 
to thicken. Place over boiling water in lower part of the 
boiler. Cover and cook gently with little stirring one hour 
or more, or till tender and soft. Or put in Fireless Cooker 
for three hours. 

Serve hot, with or without sugar, with milk, cream or 
butter. Put in moulds with fruit and serve cold as dessert. 
Pack solidly in loaf shape, slice when cold, brown in hot 
fat, serve hot. 

Corn Meal Mush. 

Mix one cup cornmeal, one-fourth cup of flour, one tea- 
spoon salt, one cup cold milk or water. When smooth 
blend with one pint boiling water, stir for about five min- 
utes. When thick place over water or in steamers and 
cook one hour or more. Serve hot or pack in pan to fry, 
or dip in fat and toast under the gas. 

Rice. 

Pick over and wash thoroughly or parboil five minutes 
and drain. Then put in a buttered dish with twice its bulk 
of boiling water and set in a steam cooker. In three- 
quarters of an hour it should be tender and every kernel 
distinct, and it may be cooked longer without becoming 
mushy. 

Rice Croquettes. 

With one pint of cooked rice (if cold, reheated) blend 
one tablespoon butter and one or two beaten egg yolks. 
Season with salt, pepper and parslev, or with sugar and 

32 



spice. Divide in ten or twelve portions, press in firm 
shape, roll in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. 

Boston Baked Beans. 

Soak one pint beans over night. Parboil in the morning 
until the skins crack readily with a slight pressure. A 
very little soda may be put into the water to help this 
process. Score the rind of one-fourth pound fat salt pork 
and rinse it. Drain the beans and put part in the bean pot, 
then the pork and cover with the beans, leaving only a 
little of the pork rind exposed. Mix one teaspoon of salt, 
one-fourth teaspoon of mustard and a tablespoon or more 
of molasses as desired, add water and pour over the beans. 
Cover and bake twelve hours or more, keeping the beans 
filled up with water until the last hour, when the cover 
should be removed and the pork rind and the top layer of 
beans should brown. 

Potatoes. 
Baked. 

Choose those of equal size and scrub with brush. Cook in 
hot oven 30 to 40 minutes, or until soft. Then crack the 
skin to let out steam. The potato should be plump (not 
shriveled), and the inside white and mealy. 

Boiled. 

Wash, pare if imperfect or old. If not of uniform size, 
divide the larger ones. Put in boiling salted water and 
cook for 20 to 30 minutes, till tender. Drain off the water 
and shake the uncovered kettle to let the steam escape. 

Riced. 

Put boiled potatoes through strainer or ricer into a hot 
dish from which thev are to be served. 

Mashed. 

In a hot pan mash boiled potatoes. For each half pint, 
add two tablespoons milk, one teaspoon butter, season with' 
salt and pepper. 

33 



Croquettes. 

Prepare mashed potato with less milk and one egg yolk 
for each half pint and season with celery salt, paprika and 
parslev. Roll in crumbs, egg and crumbs, and fry in deep 
fat. 

Stuffed Potatoes. 

Cut a slice from end of baked potatoes, scrape out inside, 
mash and season. Add chopped meat, cheese or parsley for 
variety. Refill skins and reheat in oven. 
Canoes, or Potatoes on the Half Shell. 

Cut the potatoes in two lengthwise, refill each part and 
brown. 

Creamed. 

Cut boiled potatoes in cubes or slices and reheat in thin 
white sauce, one-half cup to each cup of potato. 
Hash. 

Use two parts potato to one part meat, or equal amounts 
of each. Chop meat, chop or mash potato. Season with 
salt, pepper, onion, etc., moisten with gravy or water. For 
one cup hash, put one tablespoon fat in a frying pan. When 
hot, put in the hash and cook slowly, without stirring, until 
a brown crust forms on the bottom. Fold like an omelet. 
French Hash. 

Put meat and gravy in a deep dish, cover with mashed 
potato and bake till golden brown. 

SUGAR. 

Caramel. 

Put sugar in a smooth iron pan over a hot fire and stir 
constantly with an old wooden spoon until melted to a light 
brown syrup. Scrape off any sugar that forms in lumps. 
When all is melted add an equal amount of boiling water 
and simmer a few moments until blended into a thick syrup. 

A quantity of this may be made at once and kept on hand 
to flavor and sweeten custards and ice cream, or to serve as 
a sauce with other puddings. 

If it should happen to brown beyond the shade of good 
maple syrup, let it go a little further until the sweet flavor 

34 



would be lost. Then dissolve as above and bottle to use for 
coloring soups and meat gravies. 

Syrup. 

Combine equal quantities of water and sugar in a sauce- 
pan and stir until dissolved. Boil five to ten minutes until 
only slightly reduced in quantity. Can while hot in small 
jars and keep on hand to sweeten fruit drinks or ices as the 
dissolving of the sugar in cold liquids is a slow and unsat- 
isfactory process. 

Fondant. 

In an agate saucepan put one cup granulated sugar, about 
one-sixteenth of a teaspoon of cream of tartar — a bit the 
size of a small pea — and one-half cup of hot water. Stir 
till sugar is dissolved, then cover and cook without stirring. 
Skim and wipe the sides of the pan if necessary. Boil 
about ten minutes or till 238 to 240 degrees F., when it will 
form a soft ball in cold water. Turn into a greased bowl 
or platter and cool slightly. It will grain if stirred while 
too warm. Beat and knead till a smooth, creamy mass. If 
it hardens too rapidly dip the hands in water and continue 
the kneading. 

Pack away in covered dish for a -day or longer, then shape 
as desired. Colors and flavors must be very concentrated. 
By combination with chocolate, dates, figs, nuts, etc., a 
great variety of candies may be secured. This fondant is 
a very satisfactory frosting for cake and may be kept on 
hand. Warm it over water until it can be spread on the 
cake. 

Boiled Frostings. 

Cook one cup of sugar with one-half cup of water or 
less, and a bit of cream of tartar until it will thread, not 
quite reaching the soft ball stage. Then pour slowly on 
the stiffly beaten white of one egg and continue beating 
until cool enough to spread. Much depends on the moisture 
in the atmosphere as well as the dryness of the cake. 

For a still softer frosting a larger proportion of egg white 
is used. This may be varied with different flavors and 
colors. 

35 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

French Dressing for Salads. 

One- fourth teaspoon salt, speck pepper, one tablespoon 
vinegar, two or three tablespoons oil. 

Blend thoroughly and pour over the salad. 

Mayonnaise Dressing. 

One egg yolk, one-half to one cup oil, one tablespoon 
vinegar, one tablespoon lemon juice, one-half teaspoon salt, 
one-half teaspoon mustard, few grains cayenne. 

Mix vinegar, lemon juice and seasoning. 

Beat egg yolk, add oil drop by drop at first, beating con- 
tinually. When thick add a little of the seasoning mixture, 
then more oil and alternate until all is used. 

Utensils and materials should be kept as cool as possible. 

Chocolate. 

Melt one ounce chocolate in saucepan over hot water, 
add a few grains salt, one tablespoon sugar, one-half pint 
boiling water ; stir till smooth ; boil one minute. Blend with 
one pint hot milk and cook in double boiler. 

Beat with Dover egg beater to prevent skin forming on 
top. Just before serving, an egg yolk may be added to the 
chocolate. Serve with whipped cream. 

Chocolate and cocoa both contain starch which requires 
cooking. 



36 



COMPLETE COURSE IN HOME ECONOMICS 

This course covers, systematically, in an interesting and practical way, the new 
"Profession of Home-making" and "Art of Right Living." It is divided into forty 
lesson pamphlets of fifty to one hundred pages each. 

REGULAR ORDER IN WHICH THE LESSONS ARE TAKEN 



FOOD SUBJECTS 
(1) Chemistry of the Household 

Parts I, II, III. 
(3) Principles of Cookery 

Parts I, II, III, IV. 
(5) Food and Dietetics 

Parts I, II, III, IV. 
(7) Household 3Ianagement 

Parts I, II, III, IV. 

HOUSEHOLD ART 
(9) The House — Its Plan, Deco- 
ration and Care, I, II, III. 
(10) Textiles and Clothing 
Parts I, II, III. 



PARTIAL LIST 

ISABEL BEVIER, Ph. M. 

Professor of Household Science, 

University of Illinois 
S. MARIA ELLIOTT 

Instructor in Home Economics, 

Simmons College, Boston 
BERTHA M. TERRILL, A. M. 

Professor of Home Economics, 

University of Vermont 
KATE HEINZ WATSON 

Formerly Instructor Lewis Insti- 
tute, Chicago 
MARGARET E. DODD. S. B. 

Graduate Mass. Inst, of Technology 
ANNA HARROWS 

Teacher of Cookery, Columbia 

University: Director Chautauqua 

School of Cookery 

BOARD OF 

Mrs. A. COURTENAY NEVILLE 
President of the Board; First Chair- 
man Home Economics Committee, 
G. F. W. C. 

Mrs. ELLEN M. HENROTIN 

Organizer and Honorary President 
General Federation Women's Clubs 

Mrs. FREDERIC W. SCHOFF 
President National Congress of 
Mothers 

Mrs. LINDA HULL LARNED 
Past President National Household 
Economics Association 

Miss ALICE RAVENHILL 

Commissioner of the British Gov- 
ernment on Domestic Science in 
the United States 



HEALTH SUBJECTS 

(2) Household Bacteriology 
Parts I, II, III. 

(4) Household Hygiene 
Parts I, II, HI. 

(6) Personal Hygiene 

Parts I, IT, III, IV. 

(8) Home Care of the Sick- 
Parts I, II, III. 

CHILDREN 

(11) Care of Children 

Parts I, II, III. 

( 12) Study of Child Life 

Parts I, II, III. 

OF INSTRUCTORS 

ALFRED C. COTTON, A. M., M. D. 
Professor Diseases of Children, 
Rush Medical College, University 
of Chicago 

ALICE PELOUBET NORTON.M.A. 
Assistant Professor of Home Eco- 
nomics, University of Chicago 

MARION FOSTER WASHBURNE 
Editor of "The Mothers' Magazine" 

AMY ELIZABETH POPE 

Instructor in Nursing, Presby- 
terian Hospital, N. Y. City 

CHARLOTTE M. GIBBS, A. B. 
Director of Household Art, Uni- 
versity of Illinois 

MAURICE Le BOSQUET. S. B. 
Director American School of Home 
Economics, Chicago 



TRUSTEES 

Mrs. MARY HINMAN ABEL 

Editor "Journal of Home Eco- 
nomics" ; Author U.S. Government 
Bulletins 

Miss MARIA PARLOA 

Founder of the Original Cooking 
School in Boston; Author, etc. 

Mrs. J. A. KIMBERLY 

Vice-President of National House- . 
hold Economics Association 

Mrs. JOHN HOODLESS 

Government Supt. of Domesti" 
Science of the Province of Ontario 

Mrs. WALTER McNAB MILLER 
Chairman of the Food-Sanitation 
Committee, G. F. W. C. 




THE COMPLETE COURSE 

AUTHORS AND PARTIAL SYNOPSIS 

I. THE HOUSE: ITS PLAN, DECORATION AND CARE, 
by Prof. Isabel Bevier, University of Illinois. 

Treats of the development of the modern 
home and the American house, the planning 
of convenient houses, construction, floors ; 
the problems of decoration and furnishing ; 
gives suggestions for changes, repairs, house- 
hold conveniences; "The Cost of Building," 
etc. 

II. HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY, 
by S. Maria Elliott, Simmons College. 
An interesting account of the microscopic 
forms of life and their relation for good and evil to the household ; 
how to make "dust gardens" showing what dust is; disease germs 
and how to avoid them; the protecting" agencies of the body and how 
to keep them active; sanitation, etc 

III. HOUSEHOLD HYGIENE, by S. Maria Elliott, Simmons 
College, Boston. 

The healthful home ; the best situation for 
the house; importance of the cellar; all about 
drainage, heating, lighting, disposal of wastes, 
plumbing tests, the water supply ; practical 
suggestions for sanitary furnishings and care ; 
hygienic housekeeping, etc. 

IV. CHEMISTRY OF THE HOUSEHOLD, by Margaret E. 
Dodd, S. B., Mass. Institute of Technology. 

"A Day's Chemistry" — a fascinating account of the unseen 
forces in the common things met in a day's 
work — water, air, fire, fuel ; chemistry of 
food, of digestion, of cookery, of baking 
powder, of cleaning, of laundry, of stains, 
of lighting; home tests; home-made baking 
powder, soap, etc., etc. 

V. PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY, by Anna Barrows, Colum- 

bia University and Chautauqua School of Cookery. 
"A key to the cook books" — analyzing and explaining the 
principles on which success rests ; all approved methods of cookery 
explained, particular attention being paid to economy of time and 
materials; full consideration of menus, making a fireless cook-stove, 
"Directions for Waitresses," etc. 

VI. FOOD AND DIETETICS, by Prof. Alice P. Norton, 
University of Chicago. 

Tells of food economy, of the composition, 
nutritive value and digestibility of foods ; how 
the body makes use of food ; the balanced 
ration ; healthful diet for the sedentary, the 
aged, the children, and so on ; food adultera- 
tions, etc. 







IN HOME ECONOMICS 

AUTHORS AND PARTIAL SYNOPSIS 

VII. HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT, by Prof. Bertha M. 
Terrill of University of Vermont 

Full treatise on household finance; economy in spending; the 
best division of income; household accounting; system in housework ; 
the servant problem; help by the hour; buying supplies and fur- 
nishings ; how to market economically; cuts of meat; season of 
vegetables; experiences of students; "Co-operative Housekeeping," 
etc. 

VIII.- PERSONAL HYGIENE, by M. 
LeBosquet, S.B., Director of A.S.H.E. 
The wonderful human machine ; running 
the machine ; care of the machine — sufficient 
physiology given to show the reasons for the 
directions for maintaining health ; emphasis 
placed on do rather than don't ; articles on 
' 'Ethics of Health, ' ' ' 'Use and Abuse of Drugs, ' 
etc. 

IX. HOME CARE OF THE SICK, by Amy 
E. Pope, Presbyterian Hospital, New York City. 

Includes the essentials of trained nursing ; 
specific directions for handling and caring for the 
patient ; nursing in contagious diseases; obstetrics; 
food for the sick ; emergencies ; poisons and their 
antidotes ; bandaging ; articles on communicable 
diseases, etc. 

X. TEXTILES AND CLOTHING, by Kate H. Watson, 
formerly Lewis Institute and University of Chicago. 

Fully illustrated descriptions of primitive 
and modern methods of manufacture ; textile 
fibres and fabrics; plain and ornamental stitches 
and their applications; machine sewing; cutting 
and fitting of waists and skirts, color and 
ornament; children's clcthes; repairs, etc. 
XI. STUDY OF CHILD LIFE, by Marion Foster Wash- 
burne, editor "Mothers' Magazine." 
Thoroughly sensible and practical directions for the treatment of 
children; faults and their remedies; character building; home occu- 
pations ; play; associates; studies and accomplishments ; religious 
training; the sex question, answers to questions, etc. 

XII. CARE OF CHILDREN, by Dr. A. C. Cotton, Prof. Child- 
ren's Diseases, Rush Medical College, University of Chicago 
The care of the baby before birth and of 
the new baby; healthful clothing; development 
and growth of the child ; authoritative and 
specific directions for feeding ; food disorders ; 
food for older children , treatment of children's 
ailments ; hygiene, of the child through the 
pubescence period, etc. 






ANNOUNCEMENT 

"LESSONS IN COOKING, THROUGH THE PREP- 
ARATION OF MEALS." 

THIS new correspondence course in cookery has been 
prepared to meet the needs of home-makers who have 
had little or no systematic training in modern methods 
of cooking but who desire to provide for their families sim- 
ple, yet appetizing and wholesome meals, with the last ex- 
penditure of time, effort and money. 

The ordinary cook book, with its numerous and compli- 
cated recipes, is of little help to the beginner. It does not 
answer the oft occurring question, "What shall I provide for 
today, tomorrow, for next week"? It gives no hint of 
wholesome food combinations or balanced diet. 

The problem of- home cooking is not only how to cook- 
various separate dishes but how to prepare whole meals. 
The plan of "Lessons in Cooking" is unique and original in 
that a systematic course in cooking is taught through a series 
'of menus, with detailed directions, not only for cooking the 
separate dishes, but also for preparing and serving each meal 
as a whole. The course is divided into twelve parts, in each 
of which is given the recipes for a week's menu, typical of 
one month of the year — over 250 meals in all. In the first 
lessons, simple operations of cooking are described and 
gradually the more difficult and complicated recipes are in- 
troduced, leading to advanced work in the later lessons. 
Throughout the course the question of wholesome food com- 
binations and balanced meals is carefully considered and 
special emphasis is given to economy of time and money. 

All available authorities have been consulted and the 
assistance of a number of prominent teachers of cookery 
has been obtained in the preparation of this course, which 
presents the best modern methods and the latest scientific 
discoveries relating to the "Fine Art of Cooking." 

HALF TUITION COUPON. 

American School op Home Economics, Chicago: 

Please enroll me in your new correspondence ' ' Lessons in Cook- 
ing, " in twelve parts, to be sent one each month. I agree to pay 
introductory half tuition fee of $6.00; $1.00 herewith and the balance 
at the rate of $1.00 a month for five months ($5.00 cash in advance, 
jf preferred). Money to be refunded if not satisfactory. 

Signed 



DEC 14 1910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 






